title: Optochiasmatic and peripheral neuropathy due to ethambutol overtreatment.
abstract: Ethambutol is known to cause optic neuropathy and, more rarely, axonal polyneuropathy. We characterize the clinical, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging findings in a 72-year-old man who developed visual loss and paresthesias after 11 weeks of exposure to a supratherapeutic dose of ethambutol. This case demonstrates the selective vulnerability of the anterior visual pathways and peripheral nerves to ethambutol toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology (HLG, SH, TLS, HHS), Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (TLS), and Leo M. Davidoff Department of Neurological Surgery (TLS), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
authors.forename: Howard L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Geyer
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herskovitz
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Slamovits
authors.forename: Herbert H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Schaumburg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001766:Blindness / Q000139:chemically induced; D004977:Ethambutol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009897:Optic Chiasm / Q000473:pathology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D004977:Ethambutol