Brain autopsy in organic solvent syndrome.

General autopsy findings, brain weight and brain pathology were studied in 98 men and five women who had been exposed occupationally to organic solvents over several years and assessed by the Danish National Board of Industrial Injuries for chronic toxic encephalopathy. The findings were compared with a forensic control material and a hospital control material. As in the general population, the most common causes of death among the exposed workers were heart failure and other vascular diseases. Due to the composition of the material (forensic cases), the number of suicides and violent deaths was high. Atherosclerosis was the most common CNS finding, but in comparison with the two control materials, no increase in the frequency of atherosclerosis or of Alzheimer's disease was found. Brain weights of the exposed workers corresponded closely to brain weights in the control materials, after correction for body height, body weight and age. Chronic alcoholism was correlated with slightly reduced brain weight.