[Toxic hepatitis and acute renal failure after inhalation of chloride solvents: report of one case (author's transl)].

Due to a combination of ingested ethanol and inhaled trichloroethylene (Tri) a 28 year old man developed toxic hepatitis and acute oliguric renal failure, both of which had a favorable evolution. Tri has been described as a cause of hepatic disfunction and acute renal failure due to acute tubular necrosis, although some of the cases described are controversial, because Tri was either contaminated by other dissolvents or could not be proven pure, with the exception of one case. In many there was ethanol ingestion. The Tri inhaled by our patient was found to contain less than 1% of carbon tetrachloride (C-Tchl). This would suggest the C-Tchl to be responsible for the clinical picture although the combination Tri/ethanol cannot be discarded as the causal agent, due to the small amount of contaminant present.