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Previous Volume 304:503-508 February 26, 1981 Number 9 Next

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Abstract

A progressive neurologic syndrome developed in six children with longstanding cholestatic liver disease. The neurologic abnormalities included areflexia, gait disturbance, decreased proprioceptive and vibratory sensation, and paresis of gaze. Serum vitamin E concentrations were uniformly low. Neuropathological studies carried out in two of the three fatal cases revealed degeneration of the posterior column, selective loss of large-caliber, myelinated axons in peripheral nerve, and spheroids in the gracile and cuneate nuclei. These lesions are similar to those found in animals with experimentally induced vitamin E deficiency. We therefore speculate that the neurologic syndrome in these children may be the result of chronic vitamin E malabsorption.

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