Gold toxicity presenting as peripheral neuropathy.

A patient with rheumatoid arthritis developed gold induced peripheral neuropathy after 255 mgs of aurothioglucose. This neuropathy is characterized by weakness and numbness of the hands and feet in association with hyperalgesia of the palmar surface of the hands. The absence of vasculitis permits differentiation of gold neuropathy from the neuritis associated with rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus. Treatment consists in cessation of gold and possibly the use of dimercaprol; recovery is slow but generally complete.