A Genetic Study of Two Families Having the Acute Intermittent Type of Porphyria

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Abstract
The prevalence of acute intermittent porphyria is greater than has been supposed, as a number of recent authors have emphasized (1-4), because so many cases with clinical expression of this disease are misdiagnosed, while almost all of the latent cases remain undetected. Recognition of the latent carriers of this genetic disease is of the utmost importance, since undiagnosed cases are in constant danger of taking, or of being given, barbiturates or other drugs that may precipitate or aggravate acute attacks and may result in permanent neurologic damage or even in death. Furthermore, when an acute attack develops, whether spontaneously or