TOLUENE LEUKOENCEPHALOPATHY DUE TO
CHRONIC ABUSE
Chronic encephalopathy from toluene, a disorder
known as toluene leukoencephalopathy, is an ominous
sequel of this form of substance abuse and features a
prominent and characteristic neurological syndrome,
the most important feature of which is dementia (1, 7).
The clinical severity of toluene leukoencephalopathy
parallels the degree of white matter injury in the brain
as seen by neuroimaging studies, and accordingly, toluene
has become a prototypical brain white matter neurotoxin
(7). The damage to brain white matter appears
to become irreversible at some point and no treatment
is currently known other than abstinence. Exactly when
in the clinical course the damage becomes irreversible,
an issue of paramount importance for prognostic counseling
is unknown