Acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy in Burkitt-like lymphoma.
Immune-mediated neuropathies associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are rare and can be difficult to delineate from neuropathies of other etiologies. We report the clinical and pathological findings of a 36-year-old patient with fulminant quadriplegic neuropathy, left facial nerve palsy, and Burkitt-like lymphoma. Features of the neuropathy, which occurred during induction chemotherapy with a total cumulative dose of 4 mg vincristine, suggested axonal Guillain-Barré syndrome. There was no evidence of direct malignant infiltration of the peripheral nervous system. We hypothesize that immune mechanisms triggered by the lymphoma initiated damage to the peripheral nervous system and enhanced its vulnerability to the toxic effects of vincristine.
Wanschitz
Julia
J
Clinical Department of Neurology, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. julia.wanschitz@uibk.ac.at
Dichtl
Wolfgang
W
Budka
Herbert
H
Löscher
Wolfgang N
WN
Boesch
Sylvia
S