Asthénie et troubles visuels chez un peintre de 48 ans

Tiredness is a common complaint which may have multiple causes, sometimes difficult to ascertain. As occupational activities can play a major role in the incidence of various diseases, failure to investigate the patient's work history may hinder an adequate patient care. In the clinical case described hereafter, the patient symptoms could eventually be ascribed to a psycho-organic syndrome (POS) caused by the chronic exposure to organic solvents in the painting material used. This syndrome is non specific, evolves with time in an insidious manner, and, in its last stages, may cause non reversible brain damages. When facing non typical neurological symptoms in a working age adult, one has thus to consider the possibility of this diagnosis since the workers populations exposed to solvents are large in several occupations, and because the recent legal recognition in Belgium of this syndrome as an occupational disease does provide some interesting means for a better follow-up and protection of the patients concerned.