Pavel Otruba, Petr Kaňovský
The peripheral nervous system complications with statin treatment was prospectively investigated in a group of 42 patients (23 females, 19 males, mean ages 51.9 and 52.3 years, respectively). Initial examinations included laboratory and electrophysiological measures (peroneal and tibial nerves: MNCV, CMAP, F-wave; superficial peroneal and sural nerves: SNCV, SNAP), treatment with simvastatin 20 mg daily was initiated. Patients were followed for 24 months. Electrophysiological examination of lower-limb peripheral nerves demonstrated statistically significant prolongation of F-wave mean latency on the peroneal and tibial nerves (p < 0.0001). The study demonstrated that long-term treatment with statins may cause dysfunction of peripheral nerves.