Distal sensory axonopathy after sarin intoxication

Neurology. 1998 Oct;51(4):1195-7. doi: 10.1212/wnl.51.4.1195.

Abstract

A 51-year-old man inhaled sarin during a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system and died 15 months later. Neuropathologic examination revealed marked nerve fiber decrease in the sural nerve, moderate nerve fiber loss in the sciatic nerve, and unremarkable dorsal root ganglia, dorsal roots, and posterior column of the spinal cord. This pathology is consistent with dying-back degeneration of the peripheral nervous system and could represent a late sequela of sarin intoxication.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Fatal Outcome
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / pathology*
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / chemically induced*
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / pathology*
  • Neurons, Afferent / pathology*
  • Neurons, Afferent / ultrastructure
  • Sarin / poisoning*
  • Spinal Cord / pathology
  • Sural Nerve / pathology
  • Tokyo
  • Violence

Substances

  • Sarin