title: Sarcoid polyneuropathy masquerading as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sarcoid polyneuropathy is a rare and clinically heterogeneous disorder that may be the initial presentation of sarcoidosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the clinical, electrophysiological, and pathological findings of a patient who carried a diagnosis of sensory-predominant chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) for over a decade but was ultimately found to have sarcoid polyneuropathy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 36-year-old man presented with a several-week history of gait difficulty and muscle cramps. He had a diagnosis of CIDP but had not received lasting benefit from steroid-sparing immunosuppressive drugs. Electrodiagnostic studies were consistent with a chronic demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy with conduction blocks. After he developed systemic symptoms, tissue biopsies revealed granulomatous disease. Symptoms improved with steroid therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sarcoid polyneuropathy presents a diagnostic challenge, but, in patients with atypical neuropathy, characteristic systemic symptoms, or a poor response to standard treatment, nerve and muscle biopsies can help diagnose this treatable disorder.
authors: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0114, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA.
authors: Neel S
authors: NS
authors: Singhal
authors: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0114, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA.
authors: Viktoriya S
authors: VS
authors: Irodenko
authors: Department of Pathology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors: Marta
authors: M
authors: Margeta
authors: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0114, San Francisco, California, 94143, USA.
authors: Robert B
authors: RB
authors: Layzer
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D020277:Polyradiculoneuropathy, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D058088:Sarcoglycanopathies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013497:Sural Nerve / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003402:Creatine Kinase
keywords: CIDP; muscle cramps; nerve biopsy; polyneuropathy; sarcoidosis