Occurrence Of Peripheral Neuropathy Research Articles

Peripheral neuropathy of dietary riboflavin deficiency in racing pigeons.

An occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in nine 14- to 55-day-old racing pigeons was documented. The predominant clinical signs were diarrhea, and leg and wing paralysis. Grossly, there was discoloration and swelling of all the peripheral nerve trunks. Microscopic lesions comprising swelling, fragmentation and demyelination of myelin sheaths, and proliferation of Schwann cells, were seen in the peripheral nerves of all birds examined. These changes were associated with moderate to severe swelling, fragmentation, atrophy and loss of axons. The peripheral nerve lesions in these cases were similar to those of dietary riboflavin deficiency in chickens. An analysis of the diet given to the pigeons indicated that the riboflavin concentration was only 0.9 mg/kg feed.

Peripheral neuropathy in tropical pancreatic diabetes.

Electrophysiological evaluation of peripheral neuropathy was done in 16 patients with tropical pancreatic diabetes (TPD) and the data compared with those of a matched group of 16 NIDDM patients. Peripheral neuropathy was present in 6 TPD and 5 NIDDM patients. Abnormal motor conduction velocity in the lateral popliteal nerve was seen in 9 TPD patients and in 8 NIDDM patients and biothesiometry was abnormal in 7 patients in each group. One TPD patient had an abnormal F wave in the lower limb. An abnormal sensory potential was recorded in the sural nerve in 6 TPD and 8 NIDDM patients. The study showed that occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in TPD was similar to that in NIDDM. Subclinical neuropathy could be detected by electromyographic recording in both groups of patients.

Screening for peripheral neuropathy in patients treated by chronic hemodialysis

Observations were made on the occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in a series of 139 patients admitted to a chronic dialysis program over a 10-year period. Evidence of neuropathy was obtained in approximately 50% of these patients over the total period. Once dialysis was instituted, distal paresthesiae evident before the inception of dialysis tended to clear rapidly. Occurrence of the symptom of "restless legs" correlated positively with the presence of neuropathy. Persistent neuropathy was more commonly sensory than motor, and its features were consistent with a predominant loss of large myelinated fibers. This analysis suggests that multiple factors may be involved in the origin of uremic neuropathy.

"Huffer's" Neuropathy

INSULT to the human peripheral nervous system caused by exposure to organic compounds is well known. The epidemic occurrence of triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP) neuropathy and acrylamide neuropathy are two examples.^1,2Further, the occurrence of peripheral neuropathy after inhalation of organic solvents has been reported. For example, accidental industrial exposure to n-hexane³and methyl butyl ketone⁴has resulted in neuropathy. In addition, deliberate "sniffing" of glue containing n-hexane and toluene has resulted in a predominantly motor neuropathy with severe neurogenic atrophy.⁵ We report the occurrence of severe peripheral neuropathy in seven men who repeatedly inhaled a commercially available lacquer thinner for the euphoric sensation, ie, "high," it produces. This inhalation is called "<i>huffing</i>." Because of the general uniformity of clinical onset, progression, and physical findings, these cases are reported as a group. Aspects of individual cases of special neurologic interest will be reported later with the results

PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY DUE TO VITAMIN B1 DEFICIENCY IN DIABETES MELLITUS

We are reporting nine cases of a symmetrical peripheral neuropathy due to vitamin B 1 deficiency found in a group of 422 ambulatory patients with diabetes mellitus. The occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients is well known and has been the subject of several reports since its description by Marchal de Calvi 1 in 1864. The incidence of this condition in groups of such patients varies, according to Jordan, 2 from 0.6 to 57.3 per cent. The extreme variation thus reported demands explanation and is due, in our opinion, to several factors. There is, first, a tendency on the part of many physicians to label vague pains in the extremities as neuritis without employing objective criteria for the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy. Pain in the extremities of diabetic patients is common; it occurs in 17 per cent of Joslin's 3 patients. Such pain, however, is more often due to