Some patients in Japan who ingested the mushroom Pleurocybella porrigens developed a toxic encephalopathy.
All of the patients had pre-exposure chronic renal failure.
Time between ingestion and symptoms onset: 1 to 31 days, mean 9 days
Toxin: unknown
Initial neurological symptoms:
(1) dysarthria
(2) weakness in the extremities
(3) involuntary movements, tremors and twitches
(4) myoclonus
(5) difficulty walking
Later:
(1) altered level of consciousness
(2) seizures resistant to therapy
(3) positive Babinski sign
(4) variable paresis
(5) ataxia
(6) paresthesias
(7) variable respiratory failure
(8) confusional state
Lesions are seen in the brain about a week after ingestion, affecting the basal ganglia, cortical white matter, globus pallidus and other sites.
