WS7.11. NMUS in inherited and inflammatory neuropathies (Encore)

Abstract

Traditionally, the evaluation of inflammatory and hereditary neuropathies has mainly relied on combination of clinical features and electrodiagnostic testing. Although MRI has previously been suggested as potential helpful add-on strategy in neuropathy diagnosis, the lack of objective cut-off values hamper it’s used in the routine clinical setting. Nerve ultrasound is an emerging and powerful diagnostic tool, that has proven to be highly sensitive and offer an important complement to routine electrodiagnosis. It has several advantages over MRI, such as the availability of reference values, flexible field of view, superior image resolution, broad availability and relatively low cost. Since the first descriptions of nerve ultrasound findings in neuropathies, several sonographic studies have been published. This course will review the available literature and experience of nerve ultrasound in inherited and inflammatory neuropathies. The use and implementation of different sonographic protocols and scoring systems will be discussed in detail, including a practical sonographic protocol and improvement in diagnostic yield. Also, the apparent lack of clear association between nerve morphology and function in neuropathies will be addressed. The course will also highlight several pitfalls and relevant imaging mimics.