[Clinical and electromyographic study of the therapeutic effectiveness and general tolerability of a new mixture of internal ester gangliosides in patients with peripheral neuropathy caused by alcoholism]

Abstract

A clinical and electromyographic study was carried out to assess the therapeutic efficacy and general tolerance of a new mixture of internal ester gangliosides, with retarded neuropathy due to alcoholism. The study included the comparison between treatment for two months with internal ester gangliosides and traditional multi-vitamin treatment; the study was double-blind and randomised, and was performed according to an experimental plan using a double placebo technique. In order to assess damage to the PNS and the therapeutic efficacy of the two treatments, the following EMG tests were carried out: bilateral motory VDC, latency and width of MAP for SPE nerve, bilateral sensory VDC, latency and width of SAP for sural nerve. With regard to the clinical picture, statistical analyses were calculated using Mann-Whitney's test. Statistical evaluations for EMG tests were performed using Student's "t" test for unrelated groups in differences between the basal and final values of the variables taken into consideration. On the basis of results, it is possible to conclude that: a) the clinical variations and symptomatology showed a statistical significance in favour of the new ganglioside in comparison to the group treated with multi-vitamins; b) a statistically significant difference was observed in some electroneurographic parameters, namely VCM and latency of the SPE nerve, which was in favour of the group treated with the new ganglioside.