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Prospective follow‐up study of chronic polyneuropathy of undetermined cause
Author(s) -
Jann Stefano,
Beretta Sandro,
Bramerio Manuela,
Defanti Carlo Alberto
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.1132
Subject(s) - medicine , polyneuropathy , etiology , sural nerve , chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy , neurological examination , nerve biopsy , surgery , pathology , peripheral neuropathy , diabetes mellitus , endocrinology , antibody , immunology
Forty consecutive patients with chronic sensorimotor polyneuropathy of undetermined cause were followed to determine disease progression and prognosis. They had had neurological symptoms for at least 1 year before presentation. Neurophysiological examination in all patients showed chronic axonal degeneration, which was confirmed by sural nerve biopsy. Patients were reviewed every 3 months. Laboratory tests were performed every 6 months for the first 2 years and then annually. Neurophysiological examination was performed annually in all patients. Patients were followed up for at least 4 years. In no instance was a possible etiological factor detected during follow‐up. The clinical and electrophysiological findings had a slowly progressive course. We suggest that patients with a chronic polyneuropathy of undetermined cause despite detailed investigations do not require further extensive and expensive laboratory tests and neurophysiological studies during follow‐up. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 24: 1197–1201, 2001