A brief report of cognitive signs in a case of lead poisoning encephalopathy due to ingestion of lead contaminated opium

Background and Aim: Lead is a poisonous element which can affect different organs of the body including the brain. Unfortunately, in recent years as a way of increasing profit, some illegal drug traders add lead as an adulterator to opium. Hereto, the weight of the drug is increased. The adverse effects of lead contaminated opium on its consumers are impressive when it came to the brain damage as we will see in the following case. Methods: This is a report of a ۶۳ years old constructor man with the history of opium abuse for approximately ۱۵ years. MRI and complementary tests are provided and the patients history is obtained Results: This document gives a discourse to cognitive dysfunction in a lead poisoned case of encephalopathy considering the imaging data and functional neuroanatomy principles. Conclusion: With the hazardous level of ۸۳.۴ mcg/dL of lead in patient blood, dementia, delirium, circumlocution, memory dysfunction and changing of the personality were some of the clinical signs observed in patient. The hyper density in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the thalamus in the para sagittal and cross sectional T۲-weighted MRI respectively remark neuro-inflammation in these areas. The findings of this document with its relation to neuroanatomy of the human brain can be added to the body of the literature with the target of disambiguation of the functions of different brain areas to some extent.

Keywords:

Lead , Toxicity , Neurobehavioral Manifestations , Brain Diseases