Clinical presentation

Effects of methanol and ethylene glycol poisonings include:

• central nervous system (CNS) effects:
  • CNS depression—initially resembling ethanol intoxication, but coma and seizures may occur later due to metabolic acidosis
  • retinal toxicity (with methanol)—blurred vision, reduced visual acuity progressing to blindness
• gastrointestinal effects—nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain
• cardiovascular effects—hypotension secondary to metabolic acidosis
• metabolic effects—high anion gap metabolic acidosis, hyperkalaemia, hypocalcaemia (with ethylene glycol)
• kidney effects—acute kidney injury and kidney failure, calcium oxalate crystals in the urine (with ethylene glycol).