q... - guriyah

[ArchivalUser]

A homeless middle-aged male patient presents in the emergency room in a state of intoxication. You note that he is behaviorally disinhibited and rowdy. He tells you that he has recently consumed about a pint of a red-colored liquid that his friends were using to "get high". He complains that his vision has blurred and that it is "like being in a snowstorm". His breath smells a bit like formaldehyde. The most likely cause of his intoxicated state is the ingestion of

A ethylene glycol

B ethanol

C isopropanolol

D methanol

E hexane

[ArchivalUser]

D..

[ArchivalUser]

d..

[ArchivalUser]

D
SNOW STORM -Methanol

[ArchivalUser]

D.. Behavioral desinhibition is a feature of early intoxication due to ethanol and most other alcohols, but not ingestion of the solvent, hexane. Ocular dysfunction, including horizontal nystagmus and diplopia, is also a common finding in poisoning with alcohols, but the complaint of "flickering white spots before the eyes" or "being in a snowstorm" is pathognomonic for methanol intoxication. In some cases, the odor of formaldehyde may be present on the breath. In the patient, blood methanol levels should be determined as soon as possible.