Poly-neuropathies happens when neural inflammation involves two or more nerve trunks in separate areas.
- This is inflammation of two or more nerve trunks in separate areas and it is caused by a generalized disorder like diabetes or an immune disease.
- One example is Diabetic Neuropathy which can produce both an acute (usually reversible) nerve inflammation or chronic (irreversible) neuropathic changes in the trigeminal nerve.
- Immune-mediated neuritis occurs when the immune system turns against the body and causes autoimmune reaction (e.g. Guillain-Barre Syndrome; Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy; Neuropathies associated with Vasculitis; Neuropathies associated with Monoclonal Gammopathies).
- AIDS virus; Cytomegalovirus; Poliovirus; Hepatitis B or C infections causing vasculitic neuropathy cause Viral-Induced Polyneuritis.
- Bacterial Induced Polyneuritis includes conditions such as leprosy, diphtheria and Lyme disease.
- Nutritional-Imbalance Polyneuropathies are caused by deficiency of B12, B1 (thiamine), B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin E. Other causes of polyneuritis include Renal Failure Polyneuropathy, alcohol and other toxins, and medication induced neuritis/opathies.
- Demyelinating polyneuropathy
- In etiology they may be inherited or acquired, in their time course, acute or chronic, and in their distribution, multifocal or generalized.
- Include the Guillain-Barré syndrome; chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and its variants; the dysimmune demyelinating neuropathies that accompany systemic disease such as paraproteinemia, POEMS syndrome, and multifocal motor neuropathy; diabetic neuropathy; the demyelinating inherited polyneuropathies, and the demyelinating neuropathy from toxic exposures.
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare and heterogeneous but treatable immune-mediated neuropathy.
- Nerve conduction studies are considered essential for a definite diagnosis, but poor performance and misinterpretation of the results frequently leads to misdiagnosis.
- Multifocal motor neuropathy
- Axonal or demyelinating neuropathy and whether the underlying pathophysiology is focused at the node of Ranvier.
- Chronic progressive immune-mediated motor neuropathy clinically characterized by progressive asymmetric weakness and electrophysiologically by partial motor conduction block.
Bowley MP, Chad DA. Clinical neurophysiology of demyelinating polyneuropathy. Handb Clin Neurol. 2019;161:241-268. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64142-7.00052-7. PMID: 31307604.
Bunschoten C, Jacobs BC, Van den Bergh PYK, Cornblath DR, van Doorn PA. Progress in diagnosis and treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. Lancet Neurol. 2019 Aug;18(8):784-794. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30144-9. Epub 2019 May 7. PMID: 31076244.