Abstract
Disorders of the peripheral nervous system cause characteristic motor, sensory, and autonomic symptoms and signs that should be recognized by the clinician. Once identified, these clinical deficits can be further characterized by their pattern of involvement and temporal evolution. Taken together, these elements of the history and physical can help the clinician create a neuropathy differential diagnosis that targets the most likely etiologies. Although an in-depth understanding of the specific causes of neuropathy is important, the knowledge is applied most efficiently when the basic concepts of neuropathy are well understood.
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Abbreviations
- AIDP:
-
Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- AMAN:
-
Acute motor axonal neuropathy
- AMSAN:
-
Acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy
- ANS:
-
Autonomic nervous system
- CIDP:
-
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- CMT:
-
Charcot-Marie-Tooth
- CMV:
-
Cytomegalovirus
- CSF:
-
Cerebrospinal fluid
- CTS:
-
Carpal tunnel syndrome
- DADS:
-
Distal acquired demyelinating symmetric neuropathy
- DRG:
-
Dorsal root ganglia
- EMG:
-
Electromyography
- GBS:
-
Guillain-Barré syndrome
- HCV:
-
Hepatitis C virus
- HIV:
-
Human immunodeficiency virus
- HNPP:
-
Hereditary liability to pressure palsies
- MADSAM:
-
Multifocal acquired sensory and motor neuropathy
- MAG:
-
Myelin-associated glycoprotein
- MFS:
-
Miller Fisher syndrome
- MGUS:
-
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance
- MMN:
-
Multifocal motor neuropathy
- MRI:
-
Magnetic resonance imaging
- NCS:
-
Nerve conduction studies
- PLEX:
-
Plasmapheresis
- POEMS:
-
Polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes syndrome
- TTR:
-
Transthyretin
- VEGF:
-
Vascular endothelial growth factor
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Allen, J.A. (2018). Diseases of Nerve. In: Walk, D. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Neuromuscular Medicine . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67116-1_5
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