Prevalence and characteristics of peripheral neuropathy in hepatitis C virus population

L. Santoro, F. Manganelli, C. Briani, F. Giannini, L. Benedetti, E. Vitelli, A. Mazzeo, E. Beghi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) and its correlation with cryoglobulinemia (CG) in an unselected, untreated referral hepatitis C virus (HCV) population. Patients and Methods: Two hundred and thirty four patients (120 women and 114 men) with untreated HCV infection were consecutively enrolled by seven Italian centres. Clinical neuropathy was diagnosed when symptoms and signs of peripheral sensory or motor involvement were present. Median, ulnar, peroneal, and sural nerves were explored in all patients and distal symmetric polyneuropathy was diagnosed when all explored nerves or both lower limb nerves were affected. Mononeuropathy and mononeuropathy multiplex were diagnosed when one nerve or two non-contiguous nerves with asymmetrical distribution were affected. Screening for CG was done in 191 unselected patients. Results: Clinical signs of PN were observed in 25 of the 234 patients (10.6%). Electrophysiological PN was found in 36 (15.3%). CG was present in 56/191 patients (29.3%). The prevalence of CG increased significantly with age (p

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)626-629
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Volume77
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Neuroscience(all)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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