Abstract Background: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a group of disorders that affects peripheral nerves with variable pathologic and etiologic mechanisms. Objective: The aims of this research are to find the role of assessing nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) and echogenicity in patients with different PNs classified according to pathology (A: axonal, D: demyelinated and M: mixed (axonal and demyelinating) (PN). Materials and Methods: This is a case–control conducted at Imam Al-Sadiq Teaching Hospital in Hilla Governorate. It includes 135 patients diagnosed with PN by an experienced neurologist. Electrodiagnostic studies are used to classify patients according to their pathology into axonal, demyelinating, and mixed polyneuropathies. We matched 138 controls for age and sex. The patient is examined “by high-resolution ultrasound” for nerve CSA by tracing the nerve inside the hyperechoic epineurium; also, echogenicity was assessed subjectivity. The nerves assessed are median and ulnar, tibial, peroneal, and sural nerves. Results are compared between cases and controls and then matched between different types of polyneuropathies according to pathology. Results: The study indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the average CSA between patients and controls. The demyelinating group had more mean CSA than other groups, followed by the mixed group and, lastly, the axonal group. Also, there is a significant difference in echogenicity between different groups, with a demyelinating group show a hypoechoic appearance of all examined nerves more than other groups (axonal, mixed). Conclusion: Nerve ultrasound is a useful and complementary test for assessing patients with PN and differentiating between its variable pathologies.
Obayes et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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