MYOPATHY AND POLYNEUROPATHY CAUSED BY COL CHICINE

A forty-six year old man with chronic renal failure and a toxic chroni c liver disease developed progressive muscle weakness after a long tri al with colchicine. Physical exam revealed muscle weakness and proxima l muscle atrophy with hyporreflexia. Serum levels of creatine kinase w ere high and signs of myopathy and axonal and demyelinating polyneurop athy was evidenced in electrophysiological studies. Muscle biopsy disc losed a vacuolar myopathy, disruption of myofybers and dilatation of s arcoplasmic reticulum. The clinical pictures was attributed to a toxic myopathy and polyneuropathy due to colchicine, thus this treatment wa s discontinued. Four week later, the patient was symptom free, the lev els of seric creatine kinase were normal and a new muscle biopsy was n ormal, with disappearance of previous histological findings.