PERSISTENT PARESES AFTER PORPHYRIC ATTACKS

Abstract

Abstract. During a 25‐year period 1942–1967 95 patients with acute porphyric attacks have been indexed in The Danish Porphyria Register. Fifty of these were abdominal, only 4 showed psychosis without pareses, and the remaining 41 were paralytic. Of the latter 17 died and 24 recovered, but 12 of the 24 exhibited residual pareses after three years. Of the patients with persistent pareses 50% were males as against only 24% of the total material. Contrary to the generally accepted view porphyric pareses cannot be regarded as essentially reversible. A substantial number of patients do not recover completely from their paralysis, a phenomenon which seems to be more common in males than in females.