Long‐Term Clinical and Neurophysiological Follow‐Up of Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy Patients after Liver Transplantation: Comparison between Two Historical Different Groups of Patients

REVIEW ARTICLE


Isabel M Conceicao, Jose´ F Castro and Mamede de Carvalho

Affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Hospital de Santa Maria, Neuromuscular Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal

ABSTRACT

We tested if patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) type I have had a better outcome after liver transplantation (LT) in recent years. We compared two identical groups of patients: group I, 14 patients who underwent LT between 1993 and 2002; group II, 19 patients submitted to LT between 2003 and 2007. We found no statistically significant difference in clinical and neurophysiological progression between the two groups after LT; nerve function did not improve. Novel treatments are necessary.

Keywords: electromyography, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, liver transplantation, nerve conduction studies
Correspondence: Isabel Conceição, Department of Neurology, Hospital de Santa Maria, Av Prof Egas Moniz, 1649‐028 Lisbon, Portugal. Tel/Fax: (35)‐1‐21‐7805219; e‐mail: imsconceicao@gmail.com