Organic arsenic-induced Guillain-Barré-like syndrome due to melarsoprol: a clinical, electrophysiological, and pathological study.

A young woman suffering from sleeping sickness was treated with melarsoprol. Thirty-eight days after the first administration of this organo-arsenic compound, myalgias, distal paresthesias and rapidly progressive weakness developed in all four limbs. Electrophysiological studies were misleading for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Neuropathological data included massive distal wallerian degeneration in peripheral nerves and abnormalities in dorsal ganglia and spinal cord where vacuolation of anterior horn cells and axonal neurofilamentous masses were observed. Very high concentrations of arsenic were found in the spinal cord, contrasting with undetectable levels in peripheral nerves. Our findings are consistent with an arsenic neuronopathy manifested by initial proximal demyelination and delayed distal axonal damage. Renal and hepatic dysfunctions, which were implicated in the toxic arsenic accumulation, should be systematically detected before administration of melarsoprol. The diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome must be considered with caution in patients treated with this compound.