DEMYELINATING LESIONS IN THE MYALGIA-EOSINOPHILIA-SYNDROME INDUCED BYL-TRYPTOPHAN

A case of severe peripheral nerve lesions in a patient with eosinophil ia-myalgia syndrome induced by L-Tryptophan is reported. Both superfic ial radial nerves were very tender on palpation. Biopsy of the radial nerve showed myelin abnormalities of the type observed in experimental chronic nerve entrapment Nerve lesions included assymmetrical distort ion of the myelin sheath, segmental demyelination, axonal degeneration and regeneration. Such abnormalities suggest that mechanical factors, presumably due to proliferation of connective tissue, play a role in the nerve lesions observed in this patient.