Diseases of Nerve

It can seem a daunting task to find the cause of a peripheral nerve disorder. Although the number of potential explanations can seem innumerable, the list of potential explanations shrinks dramatically when neuropathy is characterized according to its clinical features, pattern, and temporal evolution. The process begins with recognizing the key motor, sensory, and autonomic symptoms and signs that localize the problem to the peripheral nervous system. Once a peripheral neuropathy appears likely on clinical grounds, further characterization by pattern of involvement (length-dependent, multifocal, or generalized) and temporal evolution (acute, chronic, progressive, monophasic, stepwise) can lead the clinician to create a neuropathy differential diagnosis that targets the most likely etiologies. Although an in-depth understanding of the specific causes of neuropathy is important, the knowledge is applied most efficiently when neuropathy is well characterized.