Open AccessCorneal confocal microscopy: Recent progress in the evaluation of diabetic neuropathy
Author(s) -
Papanas Nikolaos,
Ziegler Dan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of diabetes investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.089
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 2040-1124
pISSN - 2040-1116
DOI - 10.1111/jdi.12335
Subject(s) - medicine , confocal microscopy , diabetic neuropathy , nerve fiber , polyneuropathy , diabetes mellitus , cornea , confocal , pathology , ophthalmology , anatomy , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , geometry , mathematics
The present brief review discusses recent progress with corneal confocal microscopy for the evaluation of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Corneal confocal microscopy is a new, non‐invasive and reproducible diagnostic modality, and it can also be easily applied for patient follow up. It enables new perspectives of studying the natural history of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy, severity of nerve fiber pathology and documenting early nerve fiber regeneration after therapeutic intervention. It shows moderate to high sensitivity and specificity for the timely diagnosis of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Currently, corneal confocal microscopy is mainly used in specialized centers, but deserves more widespread application for the assessment of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Finally, further progress is required in terms of technical improvements for automated nerve fiber quantification and for analysis of larger images.