TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Diseases of the Peripheral Nerves A1 - Ropper, Allan H. A1 - Samuels, Martin A. A1 - Klein, Joshua P. A1 - Prasad, Sashank Y1 - 2019 N1 - T2 - Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology, 11e AB - In this single chapter, an attempt is made to provide an overview of the very large and difficult subject of peripheral nerve disease. Because the structure and function of the peripheral nervous system are relatively simple, one might suppose that our knowledge of its diseases would be fairly complete. Such is not the case. For example, when a group of patients with chronic polyneuropathy were investigated intensively in a highly specialized center for the study of peripheral nerve diseases several decades ago, a suitable explanation for their condition could not be found in 24 percent (Dyck et al, 1981) and equally discouraging figures prevail in our clinics today despite genetic testing. Moreover, the physiologic basis of many neuropathic symptoms continues to be elusive and in several of the neuropathies the pathologic changes have not been fully determined. However, rapidly advancing techniques in the fields of immunology and genetics are now clarifying entire categories of neuropathic disease. Also, effective forms of treatment for several peripheral neuropathies have been introduced, making accurate diagnosis imperative. For these reasons, clinicians now find the peripheral neuropathies among the most challenging and gratifying categories of neurologic disease. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1162600198 ER -