title: Ultrasonography of the tibial nerve in vasculitic neuropathy.
abstract: Ultrasonography is a new imaging method for visualizing peripheral nerves. In vasculitic neuropathy, pain or axonopathy often can prevent the lesion from being localized during electrophysiological examinations, but the ability of ultrasonography to evaluate it morphologically is unknown. Our aim was to determine whether ultrasonography could be used to detect abnormalities in tibial vasculitic neuropathy at the medial ankle. We evaluated 11 tibial nerves in 8 patients with tibial vasculitic neuropathy, and 35 tibial nerves in 35 control subjects. In the controls, the tibial nerve was successfully visualized as a hyperechoic nodule with multiple round hypoechoic areas transversely; in the patients, the tibial nerve appeared enlarged and hypoechoic. The affected nerve area was significantly larger (13.5 +/- 3.7 mm(2)) than in controls (7.2 +/- 1.5 mm(2)). Our results suggest that ultrasonography is a useful neuroimaging method for evaluation of tibial vasculitic neuropathy, especially when nerve conduction study findings are inconclusive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kijima
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakuta
authors.forename: Kazutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020429:Tibial Neuropathy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology