Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases 2014;32(12):930-931

Misdiagnosis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning: an analysis of 16 cases.

Jianjie ZHANG 1 ; Zhiming LI 1 ; Jinlin WANG 1 ; Hui LI 1 ; Tujie SI 1 ; Lihua DENG 1 ; Shaohong QIU 1

Affiliations

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Country

China

Language

Chinese

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo analyze the cause of misdiagnosis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning and to investigate the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of this disease.

METHODSThe 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.

RESULTSSixteen 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.

CONCLUSIONMost 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.