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Perhexiline neuropathy: A clinicopathological study
Author(s) -
Said Gérard
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410030313
Subject(s) - wallerian degeneration , medicine , polyneuropathy , drug , angina , drug withdrawal , surgery , anesthesia , cardiology , pathology , pharmacology , myocardial infarction
Five patients developed a mild to severe polyneuropathy while under treatment with perhexiline maleate, a drug used in long‐term treatment for angina pectoris. Recovery took place within a few months after drug withdrawal. We performed qualitative and quantitative light and electron microscopical studies, including teased fiber preparations, in different patients; 16 to 90% of the fibers showed segmental demyelination, an unusual feature in drug‐induced neuropathies, and 3 to 20% were undergoing wallerian degeneration. Severe loss of myelinated axons was noted in all 5 patients. In these patients clinical symptoms occurred only when a great number of fibers had already been lost and most of the surviving fibers showed demylination.