[Ethylene glycol poisoning]

Abstract

A 63-year-old man with arterial hypertension suffered from depression and suicidal wish after a cerebrovascular accident and transitory left hemiparesis. He was urgently admitted to hospital in severe metabolic acidosis which caused renal failure and coma, ending fatally within two days. At necropsy calcium oxalate crystals were found in the renal tubules and cerebral vessel walls with chemically induced meningoencephalitis. From these findings glycol poisoning was diagnosed. There was a lethal concentration of ethylene glycol in the urine. The toxic effects of ethylene glycol are due to its metabolites. The oxalate crystals are primarily of diagnostic importance.