Toxic neuropathy after adenine arabinoside treatment in chronic HBsAg-positive liver disease

A 62-year-old woman with hepatitis-B-surface-antigen—positive hepatic cirrhosis presented with weakness and paresthesias over the distal part of the limbs in the course of adenine arabinoside 5'-monophosphate (ARA-AMP) treatment, and recovered spontaneously after several weeks of drug withdrawal. Electrophysiological and histological studies demonstrated axonal neuropathy. Although the patient received a relatively low total dose (120 mg/kg), her age and advanced liver disease may have played a role in the ARA-AMP neurotoxicity.