Suicide attempt using pure methanol with hospitalization of the patient soon after ingestion: case report

context: most patients with methanol poisoning typically show up one to several days after ingestion, presenting severe acidosis, visual disorders, or both. reports of hospitalization less than 6 h after exposure are unusual. we describe a case of attempted suicide using methanol admitted 3 h after ingestion. case report: a 52-year-old male was hospitalized 3 h after intentional ingestion of 150 ml of 99.9% methanol with no co-ingestion of ethanol. he was alert and cooperative, presenting nausea and vertigo, and reporting six episodes of vomiting. physical examination showed no remarkable features. a blood sample for methanol and ethanol determination was obtained 4 h after ingestion. the result (available 10 h after ingestion) showed 70 mg/dl of methanol, without detectable ethanol. he was treated with a loading dose of 10% ethanol solution (7 ml/kg, intravenously), followed by a maintenance dose of 0.9-1.0 ml/kg/h intravenously (10 to 51 h); hemodialysis (19 to 27 h, together with 2.1 ml/kg/h of 10% ethanol intravenously); and folinic acid intravenously (50 mg every 6 h, from 4 to 51 h). he developed mild/moderate metabolic acidosis without acidemia and was discharged on day four after ophthalmological evaluation and cerebral computed tomography scan, without abnormalities. follow-up revealed no sequelae. conclusion: this could be classified as a potentially severe case of methanol poisoning, according to the amount and concentration of methanol ingested, and blood methanol concentration at 4 h. the good outcome was attributable to early hospitalization and early antidotal therapy with hemodialysis, starting at 10 and 19 h, respectively.