Perhexiline neuropathy: a clinicopathological study.
Five patients developed a mild to severe polyneuropathy while under treatment with perhexiline maleate, a drug used in long-term treatment of 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 demyelination.
D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000188:drug therapy; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010480:Perhexiline / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D010880:Piperidines / Q000009:adverse effects*
D010880:Piperidines; D010480:Perhexiline