Apallic syndrome in chronic mercury poisoning.

This report includes five cases afflicted by chronic mercury poisoning which was observed in Iraq in 1972. All five cases showed the symptomatology of a severe cerebral damage combined with peripheral nerve lesion. The clinical picture reveals an apallic syndrome or a prestage ensuring in the full-blown picture. The combination of CNS lesions with polyneuropathy is typical of mercury poisoning with failure of all brain functions and the appearance of brain stem automatism, combined with severe muscular atrophy. When such conditions are established the remission seems to be impossible. The historical as well as the clinical and morphological facts of the Minamata disease is reviewed. The different stages of chronic mercury poisoning in Iraq are described.