Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017:145:453-474.
doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-802395-2.00031-6.

Diseases of the peripheral nerves

Istvan Katona  1 , Joachim Weis  2
Affiliations
Review

Diseases of the peripheral nerves

Istvan Katona et al. Handb Clin Neurol. 2017.

Abstract

This chapter reviews the diseases of the peripheral nerves from a neuropathologic point of view, with a special focus on specific morphologic changes, and includes a summary of the histopathologic methods available for their diagnosis. As the rate of obesity and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increase, diabetic neuropathy is the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy. Many systemic disorders with metabolic origin, like amyloidosis, hepatic failure, vitamin deficiencies, uremia, lipid metabolism disorders, and others, can also cause axonal or myelin alterations in the peripheral nervous system. The most notable causes of toxic neuropathies are chemotherapeutic agents, alcohol consumption, and exposure to heavy metals and other environmental or biologic toxins. Inflammatory neuropathies cover infectious neuropathies (Lyme disease, human immunodeficiency virus, leprosy, hepatitis) and neuropathies of autoimmune origin (sarcoidosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome/acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and diverse forms of vasculitis. The increasing number of known diseases causing gene mutations in hereditary peripheral neuropathies requires precise characterization, which includes histopathology.

Keywords: CMT; HSAN; nerve biopsy; neuropathology; peripheral nerve; peripheral nervous system; peripheral neuropathy; sural nerve.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources