1/121. Chronic axonal sensory and autonomic polyneuropathy without motor involvement: a new 'chronic inflammatory neuropathy?'.We report the case of a woman with axonal sensory and autonomic neuropathy lasting several months who improved in association with steroid administration. During the course of her disease and in the follow-up, the patient underwent repeated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examinations, neurophysiological somatic, autonomic nervous system studies and sural nerve biopsy. Clinical and laboratory assessments demonstrated the occurrence of a monophasic, chronic sensory and autonomic neuropathy. A sural nerve biopsy suggested an axonopathy. After a progressive worsening of symptoms lasting about 6 months, steroid treatment was started and within 6 months a complete recovery, with normalization of the CSF findings, was observed. Although the 'chronic inflammatory neuropathies' are still debated entities, the features of this chronic, exclusively sensory and autonomic neuropathy are new, and the occurrence of a high protein level in the CSF, together with the favorable outcome associated with steroid treatment, suggests that our case might be another variant in this debated area.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/121. Asymmetrical polyneuropathy with a stepwise progressive course and well-demarcated areas of demyelination.A female patient was 12 years old when she presented with hemiatrophy and muscle weakness on the right side of her body. Then a stepwise worsening occurred, and at 19 years of age sensory symptoms were also noticed, as well as a mild involvement of the left part of her body. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein level was elevated without cells. The main electrophysiological abnormality was a marked temporal dispersion of the compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs). Motor nerve conduction velocities were moderately reduced. A superficial peroneal nerve biopsy revealed well-demarcated areas of demyelination with prominent Schwann cell hyperplasia. Neither deletion nor duplication of the PMP22 gene nor mutation of the P0 or connexin 32 genes was found by molecular genetic investigations. immunotherapy was administered, and over the next 6 years the symptomatology fluctuated. This unusual disorder seems to be a variant of chronic acquired demyelinating polyneuropathy and may be immunologically mediated.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/121. Electrophysiologic recovery after vitamin e-deficient neuropathy.A case report is presented of an electrophysiologic recovery from vitamin e-deficient neuropathy after treatment with water-soluble vitamin e in a patient with chronic hepatobiliary disease. The patient was a 64-year-old man who had experienced progressive difficulty in ambulation, with ataxia, over the previous 3 years. The symptoms were associated with pain, tingling sensation in the extremities, and reduced fine motor activity. The patient had chronic hepatobiliary disease, with recurrent cholangitis and external drainage of bile acid through a T-tube for more than 20 years. vitamin e level was barely detectable (<0.5 mg/L). Sensory conduction was absent in both sural nerves. Other sensory and motor conduction studies in the upper and lower extremities showed decreased amplitude. The patient was treated with water-soluble vitamin e. After 4 months of therapy, his ambulation function improved, but pain and tingling sensation in both hands remained. Sensory nerve action potentials appeared in both sural nerves, and amplitudes of other sensory nerves were increased. In a second follow-up study after 9 months, all of the evaluated parameters in the nerve conduction studies, as well as the vitamin e level, were normal. The authors conclude that vitamin e-deficient neuropathy is reversible and electrophysiologic recovery can occur with water-soluble vitamin e therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/121. Polyneuropathy with minifascicle formation in a patient with 46XY mixed gonadal dysgenesis.A patient with mixed gonadal dysgenesis showed glove and stocking-type sensory impairment and slowing of motor and sensory nerve conduction. sural nerve biopsy revealed minifascicular formation with decreased density of myelinated fibers. As far as we are aware, this is the first report of polyneuropathy with minifascicular formation in 46XY mixed gonadal dysgenesis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/121. Polyneuropathy with osmiophilic membrane-bound, cytoplasmic inclusions in schwann cells (POMCIS).In the cytoplasm of schwann cells of a sural nerve biopsy from a 21-year-old female patient with chronic neuropathy we noted numerous unique, usually double membrane-bound, osmiophilic, granular or globular inclusions, approximately 30-600 microm in diameter. Some of these membrane-bound vesicular or tubular structures contained less dense or no osmiophilic inclusions. Morphometry revealed a reduction of the myelin area per endoneural area to approximately 13% (normal value: 20- 30%) and of the density of myelinated nerve fibers to 5,412/mm(2) (normal value at this age: 6,000-9,000/mm(2)). Large myelinated nerve fibers were predominantly reduced in number, and no myelinated nerve fibers with diameters larger than 4.5 microm were seen. Numerous, usually small onion bulb formations indicated a predominantly demyelinating type of neuropathy. This is to the best of our knowledge the first case of a chronic demyelinating neuropathy in which this kind of presumably pathognostic deposits in the cytoplasm of schwann cells was detected.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/121. Jugular foramen syndrome caused by varicella zoster virus infection in a patient with ipsilateral hypoplasia of the jugular foramen.We report a patient with acute cranial polyneuropathy with unilateral involvement of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh cranial nerves. Although this patient lacked a typical cutaneous herpetic manifestation, elevated levels of IgM and IgG antibodies to varicella zoster virus (VZV) in both the serum and cerebrospinal fluid confirmed the clinical diagnosis of VZV infection and zoster sine herpete. Coexisting hypoplasia of the ipsilateral jugular foramen was detected using three-dimensional, surface-rendering displays reconstructed from the cranial helical CT scan. The patient recovered almost completely following treatment with an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid. Anatomical narrowing of the jugular foramen in this patient may have contributed to entrapment of the affected nerves at their passage through the foramen.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/121. magnetic resonance imaging enhancement of cranial nerves in inflammatory bulbar polyneuropathy.A patient with generalized inflammatory polyneuropathy and facial diplegia was studied with magnetic resonance imaging. Multiple cranial nerves showed signal enhancement without sensory or motor dysfunction.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/121. Predominant arm weakness in acute idiopathic polyneuritis: a distinct regional variant.Acute idiopathic polyneuritis is a heterogeneous disorder with a number of clearly established variants. We describe four patients who present with an acute neuropathy predominantly affecting the arms which we believe should be considered as a distinct variant of acute polyneuritis. In two cases a primary demyelinating process affecting both motor and sensory nerves is suggested whereas in the other two the features were of a pure motor axonal degeneration. The relationship between these neuropathies, other variants of acute idiopathic polyneuritis and multifocal motor neuropathy is considered.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/121. Severe polyneuropathy in a patient with churg-strauss syndrome.We describe the clinicopathologic features of a 56-year-old woman affected with churg-strauss syndrome with major peripheral nerve involvement. The patient presented with a 1-month history of mainly distal upper-limb symmetrical paresthesias and hypostenia (bilateral "wrist drop"), palpable purpura and eosinophilia. Multiple pulmonary infiltrates and asthma had been present since the age of 52. skin biopsy demonstrated an eosinophilic necrotizing vasculitis. During the hospitalization she was submitted to cardiac, bronchopulmonary, renal, and gastrointestinal evaluation and EMG. Peripheral nerve and skeletal muscle biopsies were performed. sural nerve biopsy showed a marked degree of demyelination. A perivascular cellular infiltrate within the epineurium was immunoreactive for T lymphocytes and macrophages. Strong HLA-DR immunostaining was present in the endoneurium. IgM, IgE and fibrinogen deposition was found in some epi- and endoneurial vessels. Muscle biopsy showed neurogenic changes and 1 thrombosed vessel surrounded by mononuclear cells. Membrane attack complex (MAC) deposition was present in a few capillaries and major histocompatibility complex products I (MHCP I) was expressed at the subsarcolemmal level in a few isolated perivascular muscle fibers. After immunosuppressive therapy, the patient showed progressive improvement of both clinical symptoms and neurophysiological parameters.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/121. light chain deposition disease neuropathy resembling amyloid neuropathy in a multiple myeloma patient.A 65-year-old man with IgG lambda multiple myeloma developed severe polyneuropathy with prominent thermal-pain sensory impairment and autonomic failure. Although the clinical presentation suggested amyloid neuropathy, nerve biopsy showed the immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features typical of light chain deposition disease (LCDD). A precise morphologic and clinical description of LCDD neuropathy is given for the first time in the present report.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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