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Untangling a case of painfulneuropathy
  1. Stephen Keddie1,2,
  2. Janev Fehmi3,4,
  3. Zane Jaunmuktane5,
  4. Shirley D'Sa6,
  5. James C Stevens4,
  6. Michael PT Lunn1,2
  1. 1National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, London, UK
  2. 2National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurology Department of Neuroimmunology and CSF Laboratory, London, UK
  3. 3Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
  4. 4Department of Neurology, North Bristol NHS Trust, Westbury on Trym, Bristol, UK
  5. 5Department of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
  6. 6Department of Haematology, Cancer Division, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Michael PT Lunn, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, London, Greater London WC1N 3BG, UK; michaellunn{at}nhs.net

https://doi.org/10.1136/practneurol-2019-002370

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    A 51-year-old right-handed man developed a sensory neuropathy with the sensation of walking on pebbles, and tight cramping pains in the calves requiring amitriptyline. Two months later, he became unsteady with difficulty walking downstairs necessitating a stick, with associated fatigue and weight loss of half a stone. He had a history of haemophilia type A and liver cirrhosis from hepatitis C, contracted through the transfusion of blood products in the 1980s.

    On examination, there was evidence of a distal symmetrical sensorimotor polyneuropathy with Medical Research Council (MRC) power grade 4+/5 in the intrinsic hand muscles and 0/5 in ankle plantar and dorsiflexion. Supinator, knee and ankle deep tendon reflexes were all absent, with mute plantar responses. He had a loss of pinprick sensation to the knees, vibration loss to the costal margins and temperature perception was altered to the mid-thighs. There was dusky pigmentation of the skin and peripheral oedema in the lower limbs.

    What is the differential diagnosis, and which investigations should be considered at this stage?

    His history and examination findings are typical of a distal symmetrical neuropathy (see box 1 for the differential diagnosis of a painful large fibre neuropathy). Serological workup for a neuropathy should include full blood count, B12, folate, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), glucose, thyroid function, a serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation, and possibly an antinuclear antibody. Note that it is typical for hospital laboratories only to perform serum immunofixation if the serum protein electrophoresis is abnormal. The greater sensitivity of immunofixation may find low-level paraproteins that would be otherwise undetectable, and which may be highly relevant in the context of neuropathy. He also has a history of hepatitis C which is associated with cryoglobulinaemia and cryoglobulinaemic peripheral nerve vasculitis, and therefore an important differential. Constitutional symptoms, including weight loss, are uncommon in isolated peripheral neuropathy, and therefore systemic causes should be considered, including vasculitis, malignancies, metabolic (diabetes), …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding SK is funded by the Guarantors of Brain and the Association of British Neurologists. MPTL is supported by the National Institute for Health Research, University College London Hospitals, Biomedical Research Centre.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed by Rob Hadden, London, UK.

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