Three people poisoned after drinking 'specialty wine'

Ho Chi Minh City: Anh An, 34 years old, and two friends vomited, had headaches, and blurred vision after drinking alcohol. Doctors diagnosed methanol poisoning.

5 days ago, Mr. An (living in Binh Duong ) met old friends, was invited to "specialty wine" (unknown type), after drinking three glasses, felt dizzy so went home to rest. In the afternoon of the same day, he vomited, felt tired, the next morning had a migraine, had difficulty breathing, his eyes were blurred as if covered by clouds, sometimes looked white as snow. On the third day, knowing that two friends also had similar symptoms, he was taken to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for examination.

On September 22, Dr. Dinh Tuan Vinh, Department of Emergency Resuscitation (ICU), said that Mr. An was admitted to the hospital with typical symptoms of methanol poisoning, and was immediately given intravenous fluids to reduce dehydration and oxygen. Blood and urine test results confirmed that the patient had metabolic acidosis (acid accumulation or loss of base) with an arterial pH index reduced to 7.29 (normal index 7.35-7.45).

The doctor quickly performed intermittent blood filtration for the patient to eliminate toxins and administered a specific antidote, 20% ethanol, through a gastric tube.

According to Dr. Vinh, blood filtration is indicated for cases of methanol poisoning with blood methanol concentration above 50 mg/dL or blood osmotic pressure gap above 10mOsm/kg or obvious metabolic acidosis, visual disturbances... However, if we continue to wait for the methanol concentration test results, it will prolong the time for methanol to enter the patient's body. Dr. Vinh prescribes the use of intermittent blood filtration to help avoid dangerous complications such as optic nerve damage causing blindness, multiple organ failure, and death.

Doctor Vinh checks the parameters on the intermittent dialysis machine. Photo: Dinh Tien — Doctor Vinh checks the parameters on the intermittent dialysis machine. Photo: *Dinh Tien*

After intermittent dialysis every 4 hours, followed by 12 hours of monitoring and then a second dialysis, the patient's blurred vision was gone and his acidosis improved. After two days, the patient's health was stable, test results were within safe limits, and liver and kidney function were normal.

One of An’s friends also went to Tam Anh Hospital for treatment, his condition is stable and he was discharged earlier. The other is being treated at a hospital near his home.

Doctor Vinh said that methanol is an industrial alcohol, used for many different purposes such as solvent, paint, cleaning solution, antifreeze... Because it is highly toxic to the body, it is only used in small amounts in industrial solutions, not used to make alcohol or food processing.

Methanol is very similar to regular ethanol, and may taste sweeter. If methanol is ingested, the patient will be poisoned quickly within 30-60 minutes. This substance is quickly absorbed through the digestive tract, most of which is metabolized by the liver into formic acid, causing metabolic acidosis, damage to organs, nerves, and vision, threatening life. Drinking 10 ml of methanol causes blindness, and only 30 ml of pure methanol can be fatal.

When first ingested, the body feels like being drunk. When methanol enters the body, the poisoning symptoms become more obvious, including vomiting, headache, dizziness, restlessness, back pain, body pain, muscle stiffness, sweating, drowsiness, blurred vision, weak breathing, hallucinations, coma, and convulsions. Clinical manifestations include vasodilation, hypotension, heart failure, changes in liver function, acute kidney failure, etc.

Doctors recommend choosing alcohol with a clear origin and licensed by the Food Safety Department. If a drinker has symptoms of suspected poisoning, he or she should go to the nearest medical facility for examination and treatment.

Dinh Tien

* Patient's name has been changed

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