Glue sniffer's neuropathy.
Progressive sensorimotor neuropathy developed in two patients exposed to prolonged (chronic) inhalation of n-hexane (glue sniffing). Sural nerve biopsies showed loss of axons; remaining axons were either normal or showed accumulation of filaments of 90 to 100 A thick, widened nodes of Ranvier, and focal enlargements. The muscle biopsy revealed neurogenic atrophy. Intramuscular nerve twigs and end-plates, studied in one patient, showed loss of axons and nerve terminals. Unmyelinated axons also showed accululation of 60 to 100 A thick filaments. The similarities between the pathologic findings in the peripheral nerve of these patients and those with acrylamide neuropathy suggest that the n-hexane inhalation produces a dying back neuropathy.
D000328:Adult; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008697:Methane / Q000506:poisoning*; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000473:pathology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D013497:Sural Nerve / Q000473:pathology
D008697:Methane