Diabetic neuropathy: electrophysiologic abnormalities of distal lower extremity sensory nerves.

TL;DRAbstract

Electrophysiologic parameters of the medial dorsal cutaneous (MDC) and the sural nerves were analyzed in 119 diabetic patients with clinical signs and symptoms of neuropathy. Fifty-five patients were insulin dependent (ID), mean age 47.4, and 64 were non-insulin dependent (NID), mean age 55.2. Using age-adjusted criteria for the sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitude and for conduction velocity (CV), the relative sensitivity of each parameter and the extent of concordance between them within each diabetic group were investigated. In mild neuropathy it was found that: 1) 43% (ID group) and 39% (NID group) had abnormalities of both parameters in both nerves; 2) 10% of MDC nerves and 12% of sural nerves were normal; 3) only 48% of the nerves studied had abnormalities of both parameters; 4) single parameter abnormalities were found with equal frequency. It is concluded that: 1) there is a high degree of concordance between corresponding parameters of the two nerves within each dia

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