[Prevalence of polyneuropathies in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease]

A multicentric study of 151 COLD patients confirmed the increased prevalence of peripheral polyneuropathies (PNP) in hypoxaemic patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD). 43 (28%) of these 151 COLD patients showed a clinically manifest PNP, whereas in a comparative group of 32 asthmatics there were only 2 clinical PNP cases. Patients with known risk factors for PNP were not included in the study. The polyneuropathy observed in such patients is usually mild, mainly sensorial, distal and leg-accentuated. Of 52 COLD patients with a PaO2 up to 55 Torr, polyneuropathy was seen in 21 (40%), and of 59 COLD patients with a PaO2 above 60 Torr, 10 (17%) had polyneuropathy. In multifactorial genesis (as would be expected), the degree of severity of hypoxaemia (calculated as reduction of the actual PaO2 value below the age-adjusted nominal value), as well as the age of the patient, are statistically significant predictors of clinically manifest PNP.