title: Respiratory failure in acute intermittent porphyria.
abstract: We report two patients of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) who presented with acute respiratory failure. Only one such previous report could be found. Occasionally, neuropathy may be the presenting feature in AIP which may progress to respiratory embarrassment. The cause of this neuropathy has been hypothesized to be direct neurotoxicity of delta-ALA by interaction with GABA receptor, altered tryptophan metabolism and may be heme depletion in nerve cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, UCMS and GTB Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tyagi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sethi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007385:Intermittent Positive-Pressure Ventilation; D008297:Male; D017118:Porphyria, Acute Intermittent / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy