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Todd MacCulloch to Undergo Treatment for CIDP

 Philadelphia 76ers center Todd MacCulloch will undergo treatment for suspected Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) by Dr. Terry Heiman-Patterson at Drexel University’s Hahneman Hospital. MacCulloch will miss the Sixers’ next three games, starting with the contest versus the New Jersey Nets on Jan. 15, 2003.

CIDP is a condition of the peripheral nervous system. Symptoms may include gradual weakness and the loss of sensation, and most commonly affects the arms and legs. In addition to weakness and the loss of sensation, CIDP also can cause aching muscle pain and the loss of tendon reflexes. The condition is closely related to Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), in which the difference from CIDP is that the symptoms occur as a more acute condition and appear rapidly over a period of days or weeks.

MacCulloch had played in all 37 games for the Sixers this season, including 36 starts. He was averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game and was the team’s top shot blocker with 31 rejections. Acquired from New Jersey on August 6, 2002, with Keith Van Horn and Dikembe Mutombo, MacCulloch missed 19 games in 2001-02 with plantar fascitis in his left foot while averaging career-highs of 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.44 blocks in 62 games (61 starts). Originally selected by the Sixers in the second round (47th overall pick) of the 1999 NBA Draft, MacCulloch was signed by the Nets as a free agent on July 19, 2001, after two seasons with Philadelphia. He made back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals with the Sixers (2001) and the Nets (2002).

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