Chronic Organophosphate Exposure: Towards the Definition of a Neuropsychiatric Syndrome

The clinical features of 33 patients with significant histories of chronic exposure to organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are reported. Disorders of mood, cognition, perception and motor performance are consistently linked to the point that it is suggested that a distinct and specific syndrome of neuropsychiatric disorder resulting from chronic OP exposure exists and tentative operational criteria for its diagnosis are proposed. Attention is drawn to the fact that this syndrome differs significantly from chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalitis) both in terms of the nature of symptoms reported and in particular the difference in consistency of reporting.