Moldy sugarcane-induced toxic encephalopathy in a child: a case report

A female child aged 2 years 3 months developed toxic encephalopathy 3 h after consuming moldy sugarcane. She presented with convulsions and coma, followed by aphasia and paralysis, as well as extrapyramidal symptoms, including nystagmus, dystonia, and spasmodic torticollis. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed symmetrical, fan-shaped, long, abnormal T2 signals in the globus pallidus bilaterally. This was a typical case of toxic encephalopathy caused by moldy sugarcane. Several case reports on toxic encephalopathy have been published in China, but none have reported the typical cranial MRI findings of the disease.