• Luca Padua, Carlo Martinoli, Costanza Pazzaglia, Marta Lucchetta, Giuseppe Granata, Carmen Erra, and Chiara Briani.
• Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. lpadua@rm.unicatt.it
• Muscle Nerve. 2012 May 1; 45 (5): 730-3.

IntroductionNerve involvement in immune-related neuropathies is non-homogeneous, and therefore characterization of ultrasound (US) abnormalities is difficult. We developed two measures to quantify US abnormalities in immune-related neuropathies.MethodsIntranerve cross-sectional area (CSA) variability for each nerve was calculated as: maximal CSA/minimal CSA. Internerve CSA variability for each patient was calculated as: maximal intranerve CSA variability/minimal intranerve CSA variability. Six patients underwent US evaluation of the median, ulnar, and fibular nerves, and the abnormalities were scored with our newly developed measures.ResultsThe new measures were applicable to all nerves and patients. The highest degree of intra- and internerve CSA variability was observed in multifocal motor neuropathy, consistent with the asymmetric characteristics of this neuropathy.ConclusionsThe application of intra- and internerve CSA variability measures allows us to quantify the heterogeneity of nerves and nerve segments and identify different US patterns in diverse immune-related neuropathies.Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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