title: Peripheral neuropathy during stavudine-didanosine antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is among the most frequent side effects described with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). We investigated the incidence, evolution and predictive factors of PN during stavudine (d4T)-didanosine (ddI) combination therapy in 65 HIV infected patients, previously treated with zidovudine and/or zalcitabine (ddC) for at least 3 months. A subset of 16 patients was referred for systematic electromyographic examination at weeks 0 and 24: six among the 16 exhibited nerve conduction abnormalities at day 0, probably related to previous ddC treatment in four of those and to HIV infection in the other two, with worsening of abnormalities in one patient at week 24. In total, seven of the 59 assessable patients (11.8%) exhibited grade 2-3 neuropathy, with a median time of occurrence of 17 weeks. Distal, symmetrical paraesthesias of the extremities were the first symptoms in all the patients; none had motor symptoms. In all the patients, PN resolved rapidly after stopping d4T. There were no statistically different parameters between the seven cases and the other 52 patients according to CD4 T cells, HIV RNA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stage C or d4T daily dose. In our study, the d4T-ddI combination did not seem to increase the incidence of PN; risk factors for PN could not be identified, probably in part because of the low number of patients with PN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reliquet
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mussini
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chennebault
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lafeuillade
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raffi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016049:Didanosine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012307:Risk Factors; D012449:Safety; D018119:Stavudine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D018119:Stavudine; D016049:Didanosine