title: [Inflammatory demyelinating chronic polyneuropathy: a contribution to the characterization of the disease].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a controversial sickness. No doubt it is still a diagnosis without a strict nosologic delimitation until we acquire a greater knowledge about the underlying mechanisms, or whether a specific marker is found. We evaluated its clinical and laboratory findings, to contribute to its characterization in our environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of 37 patients diagnosed with CIDP between 1986 and 1997. They were grouped in as to sex, age, beginning age (BA), evolution time, race, clinical form, symptoms, signs and evolutive profile. We analyzed the cytochemic and immunologic studies of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as well as sural nerve biopsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated a predominance of BA between the fifth and sixth decades, and the presentation of a mixed polyradiculoneuropathy with motor predominance and a chronic progressive evolution. It was positively correlated with protein concentration levels in CSF, elevated in the 73.5% of the patients. There was an increase in the permeability of the blood brain barrier (BBB) in 50.8%, IgG intrathecal synthesis in 5.08 and oligoclonal bands in 8.8%. We found lost of myelin sheats in 90.6% of sural nerves and onion-bulbs formation in 60.5%, which demonstrated the high sensitivity of this study to confirm the diagnosis of demyelinating process as essential substrate in the illness.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Enfermedades Neuromusculares, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, La Habana, Cuba. acabrera@neuro.sld.cu
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Cabrera-Lima
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santiago-Luis
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galarraga-Inza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010291:Paresis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013497:Sural Nerve / Q000473:pathology*; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology
vernacular_title: Polineuropatía crónica desmielinizante inflamatoria: una contribución a la caracterización de la enfermedad.