Unmyelinated nerve fibers in sural nerve in pure autonomic failure.
We examined sural nerve biopsy specimens from 7 patients with pure autonomic failure (PAF). The mean unmyelinated nerve fiber density in these patients was 40% less than in age-matched controls. Increased numbers of clusters of collagen pockets not containing unmyelinated axons were the most prominent finding in PAF. This appears to reflect recent dropout of a group of sympathetic efferents and suggests grouping of unmyelinated fibers by modality at the level of the sural nerve trunk.
Kanda
T
T
Department of Neurology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Medicine, Japan.
Tomimitsu
H
H
Yokota
T
T
Ohkoshi
N
N
Hayashi
M
M
Mizusawa
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D003094:Collagen / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D009431:Neural Conduction; D012016:Reference Values; D013497:Sural Nerve / Q000473:pathology*
D003094:Collagen