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Research Article| Volume 27, ISSUE 4, P427-458, April 1976

Chronic relapsing polyneuritis

  • J.W. Prineas
    Affiliations
    Veterans Administration Hospital, East Orange, N.J. U.S.A.

    the New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J. U.S.A.

    Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney Australia
    Search for articles by this author
  • J.G. McLeod
    Affiliations
    Veterans Administration Hospital, East Orange, N.J. U.S.A.

    the New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J. U.S.A.

    Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney Australia
    Search for articles by this author
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-510X(76)90213-6
Chronic relapsing polyneuritis
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      Abstract

      Clinical, electrophysiological and pathological findings in 23 patients with subacute and relapsing idiopathic demyelinating polyneuropathies are described. In 17 patients with relapsing polyneuropathy, the neurological illness was unaccompanied by any systemic disturbances. The term preferred for the neuropathy in this group of patients is chronic relapsing polyneuritis. The findings in this group suggest that the common form of this syndrome is due to a single disease entity. Chronic relapsing polyneuritis differs from acute idiopathic polyneuritis chiefly in regard to the rate of evolution and the severity of the initial episode of polyneuropathy. If these two polyneuropathies have the same pathogenesis, the factor which determines whether the disease is acute and self-limiting or chronically relapsing is often present at the time of onset of the disease. The relationship of chronic relapsing polyneuritis to relapsing hypertrophic polyneuropathy and progressive hypertrophic polyneuropathy is also discussed and it is concluded that these diseases may constitute a spectrum of pathogenetically related disorders. In chronic relapsing polyneuritis, as in other demyelinating polyneuropathies, a marked segmental reduction in axon diameter accompanies demyelination. This corresponds to a more than 50% reduction in the volume of the affected region of the axon and it is associated with increased packing of axoplasmic organelles and wrinkling of the axolemma. It is suggested that in the normal myelinated nerve fibre, the Schwann cell and myelin sheath maintain fluid locally within the axon.
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      Article info

      Publication history

      Received: July 25, 1975

      Footnotes

      ☆This study was supported by the Wellcome Trust and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-510X(76)90213-6

      Copyright

      © 1976 Published by Elsevier Inc.

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