US EPA

1225791 

Journal Article 

Six-year Follow-up After the 2001 Methanol Outbreak in Estonia 

Paasma, R; Hovda, KE; Jacobsen, D 

2008 

1 

Clinical Toxicology
ISSN: 1556-3650
EISSN: 1556-9519 

46 

5 (Jun 2008) 

376. 

Introduction: Mass poisonings with methanol are seen and reported regularly. Data from the time of the poisoning is therefore available, but follow up-data is scarce. We therefore conducted a six-year follow up study after the large methanol outbreak in Estonia in September 2001 (1), where methanol was verified in more than 150 patients. This is to our knowledge the first reported follow-up study of methanol poisoned patients. Method: Surviving victims from the outbreak six years ago were contacted, and invited to an interview and clinical evaluation by an ophthalmologist and physician. The patients that failed to respond were searched for in the Estonian Register of Population. Results: During the outbreak in 2001, 86/111 hospitalized survived: of those, 66 survived without sequelae (Group I) and 20 with sequelae (Group II). Six years later, 27 (31%) of these 86 patients was tracked and examined, 26 (30%) were dead, and 33 (38%) were lost to follow-up: 22/66 of the patients in Group I, and 5/20 in Group II were found and examined: 4/5 of the examined patients had visual disturbances at discharge six years earlier; and this was still present in all of them. Among the 26 dead, 19 were from Group I, and seven were from Group II. Alcohol intoxication was the most frequent cause of death (7/26). Few patients drinking alcohol on a regular basis reduced their drinking habits after the incident Conclusion: Methanol poisoning has a high mortality and morbidity: In this study, all four patients who were discharged with visual disturbances still had impairments six years later, suggesting that these is irreversible damage. 7/20 (35%) and 19/66 (29%) of the patients discharged with or without sequelae, respectively, were dead five years later (no significant difference between the groups). The most frequent reason for death during these six years was alcohol intoxication. The methanol poisoning six years earlier therefore did not seem to change their drinking habits. 

Methanol; Carcinoembryonic antigen; Complications; Intoxication; Ethanol; Poisoning; Morbidity; Drinking behavior; Mortality