Perhexiline maleate and peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy has been noted as a complication of therapy with perhexiline maleate, a drug widely used in France (and in clinical trials in the United States) for the prophylactic treatment of angina pectoris. In 24 patients with this complication, the marked slowing of motor nerve conduction velocity and the electromyographic changes imply mainly a demyelinating disorder. Improvement was noted with cessation of therapy. In a few cases the presence of active denervation signified a poor prognosis, with only slight improvement. The underlying mechanism causing the neuropathy is not yet fully known, although some evidence indicates that it may be a lipid storage process.

[The effects of gammaglobulins in resistant epilepsies. A preliminary study (author's transl)]. / Effets des gammaglobulines sur des épilepsies rebelles. Etude préliminaire.

The effect of injections of gammaglobulins 16 Mérieux (1 ml/kg) was studied in 9 patients aged from 1 to 35 years suffering from epilepsy resistant to conventional anticonvulsant treatment. Different types of epilepsy were studied to try to discover a possible indication as a function of the type of epilepsy. Results were assessed according to the patients' behaviour, the frequency and severity of clinical fits, the results of psychological tests, and EEG tracing recorded over long periods of time. Recordings were repeated every 2 to 3 weeks. Favourable results were observed in 7 cases with: --an increased rate of sleeping and waking EEG tracings, --a reduction in the percentage of paroxysms whatever the wakefulness stage, --alterations in the percentages of some sleep stages. The possible mechanisms of action of IgG are discussed.