N-Hexane- and methylethylketone-induced polyneuropathy. Abnormal accumulation of glycogen in unmyelinated axons. Report of a case.

This report presents the ultrastructural nerve study of a patient with sensorimotor neuropathy by a shoe glue containing an association of n-hexane and methylethylketone. Giant axons, distended by microfilamentous proliferation typical of such cases of neuropathy, were found in significant amounts. An unusual histological feature of this case was the considerable distension by a marked accumulation of glycogen granules in certain unmyelinated axons. Such a lesion has never been described in neuropathy induced by industrial agents.