Crystal H A, Schaumburg H H, Grober E, Fuld P A, Lipton R B
Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
Neurology. 1988 Apr;38(4):567-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.38.4.567.
A 29-year-old college graduate worked for 10 years adjacent to an ethylene oxide (EtO) chemical sterilizer. When the sterilizer was closed, levels of EtO in the air around the sterilizer were 4.2 ppm (OSHA maximum level, 1 ppm). Seven years after beginning work with EtO, she experienced impaired memory, increased irritability, clumsiness, and falling. Three years later exposure ceased, and symptoms markedly improved over the next few months, but did not disappear entirely. Neurologic and neuropsychological exams 1 year after exposure ceased demonstrated emotional lability, impaired concentration, cognitive slowing, impaired recent and remote memory, and impaired thermal and vibratory sense in distal limbs. Her pattern of relatively preserved learning and profound forgetting distinguished her from most other subjects with memory disorders. No other causes for the condition were identified.
一名29岁的大学毕业生在一台环氧乙烷（EtO）化学消毒器附近工作了10年。当消毒器关闭时，消毒器周围空气中的环氧乙烷水平为4.2 ppm（职业安全与健康管理局的最高水平为1 ppm）。在开始接触环氧乙烷7年后，她出现了记忆力减退、易怒加剧、动作笨拙和跌倒的症状。3年后停止接触，症状在接下来的几个月里明显改善，但并未完全消失。停止接触1年后的神经学和神经心理学检查显示情绪不稳定、注意力不集中、认知迟缓、近期和远期记忆力减退以及四肢远端的温度觉和振动觉受损。她相对保留学习能力和严重遗忘的模式使她有别于大多数其他记忆障碍患者。未发现该病症的其他病因。
