High incidence of subclinical peripheral neuropathy in myelitis with hyperIgEaemia and mite antigen-specific IgE (atopic myelitis): an electrophysiological study.
OBJECTIVE
To study subclinical involvement of the peripheral nerves in myelitis with hyperIgEaemia and mite antigen-specific IgE (atopic myelitis: AM).


METHODS
We carried out a nerve conduction study of the median, ulnar, tibial, and sural nerves in 21 patients with AM and in 28 patients with clinically definite or laboratory-supported definite multiple sclerosis (MS).


RESULTS
The patients with AM showed a significantly higher frequency of abnormal records than the MS patients in the sensory nerve conduction study (52.4% vs. 14.3%, p = 0.0106). The frequency of abnormal records in the motor nerve conduction study in AM patients was twice as high as in MS patients (38.1% vs. 17.9%), but the difference was not statistically significant. Abnormality in the F-wave-evoked frequency in the median nerve was also significantly more common in AM patients than in MS patients (57.9% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.0016).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that subclinical peripheral neuropathy is frequent in patients with AM.
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides / Q000276:immunology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006942:Hypergammaglobulinemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000150:complications*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications; D009187:Myelitis / Q000150:complications*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides; D007073:Immunoglobulin E