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Etiology of small‐fiber neuropathy
Author(s) -
Bednarik Josef,
VlckovaMoravcova Eva,
Bursova Sarka,
Belobradkova Jana,
Dusek Ladislav,
Sommer Claudia
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the peripheral nervous system
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1529-8027
pISSN - 1085-9489
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8027.2009.00229.x
Subject(s) - etiology , medicine , fiber , materials science , composite material
The aim of this study was to evaluate the etiology in a group of 84 patients with painful sensory neuropathy with predominant small‐fiber dysfunction (54 men and 30 women, median: 58; range: 25–83 years) recruited from a population of the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Involvement of small nerve fibers was verified by abnormal thermal thresholds and/or reduced intraepidermal nerve fiber densities. Motor signs or symptoms or significant clinical signs of sensory large‐fiber involvement were exclusionary; 33 patients, however, had sensory nerve conduction abnormalities. For comparison, the prevalence of risk factors was assessed in a group of 47 asymptomatic age‐ and sex‐matched controls (30 men and 17 women, median: 59; range: 29–85 years). The multivariate regression model disclosed that diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR] = 4.08), chronic alcoholism (OR = 5.31), and serum cholesterol levels (OR = 4.51) were the only parameters independently associated with small‐fiber involvement. No possible etiology was detected in 19 patients (22.6%). In conclusion, the spectrum of risk factors and proportion of idiopathic cases in geographically defined small‐fiber polyneuropathy sample is similar to that referred in large‐fiber polyneuropathy.