title: [Misdiagnosis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning: an analysis of 16 cases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the cause of misdiagnosis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning and to investigate the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of this disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The clinical data of 16 patients with occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning who had been misdiagnosed with other diseases were collected. The hospital they first visited, cause of misdiagnosis, clinical features, and the misdiagnosis rate among inpatients during the same period were retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen of 62 patients hospitalized during the same period were misdiagnosed at the first visit; 11 cases were in the upper first-class hospitals, and 5 cases in the upper second-class hospitals; 5 cases were misdiagnosed as Green Barry syndrome, 2 cases as motor neuron disease, 2 cases as drug-induced peripheral neuropathy, 3 cases as periodic paralysis, and 4 cases had uncertain diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most doctors who work in ordinary hospitals do not know occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning, which is often misdiagnosed as general neuropathies or difficult diseases. The key to correct diagnosis is to know the patient's occupational history and clinical features.
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Jianjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Jinlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Tujie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of occupational disease, Shenzhen hosptal for the prevention and treatment of occupational dieases, Shenzhen 518001, China.
authors.forename: Shaohong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006586:Hexanes / Q000506:poisoning*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006586:Hexanes; C026385:n-hexane