Utility of the cutaneous silent period in patients with diabetes mellitus.
We performed this study to evaluate whether or not the cutaneous silent period (CSP) is a useful metric to identify small-fiber neuropathy in diabetic patients. The CSP was measured from the abductor pollicis brevis muscle in 30 healthy controls and 110 diabetic patients, who in turn were divided into 3 subgroups (patients with large-fiber neuropathy, patients with small-fiber neuropathy, and asymptomatic patients). The measured CSP and clinical characteristics were compared among the groups. The power of the CSP in discriminating patients from controls and any correlation with other clinical variables were analyzed. Each patient subgroup had a significantly delayed CSP latency compared to the controls. The latency of patients with large-fiber neuropathy was also significantly prolonged compared to the other subgroups of patients. The CSP latency was the only variable to discriminate patients. The latency showed a significant correlation with the late responses in nerve conduction studies. Thus, the CSP latency may be a useful tool in evaluating small neural fiber function in diabetic patients.
Kim
Byung-Jo
BJ
Department of Neurology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Nan-Hee
NH
Kim
Sin Gon
SG
Roh
Hakjae
H
Park
Ha-Rim
HR
Park
Moon-Ho
MH
Park
Kun-Woo
KW
Cho
S Charles
SC
So
Yuen T
YT
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation*; D013223:Statistics as Topic