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1. A classical term for any disorder affecting any segment of the nervous system. 2. In contemporary usage, a disease involving the cranial nerves or the peripheral or autonomic nervous system. SYN: neuritis (2), neuropathia. [neuro- + G. pathos, suffering]
- acute motor axonal n. an acute, pure motor axon-degenerating type of polyradiculoneuropathy, a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome; seen principally in a seasonal pattern (spring or summer) among children in rural China following epidemics of diarrhea caused by Campylobacter jejuni.
- acute sensory motor axonal n. an acute axon-degenerating polyradiculoneuropathy that affects both motor and sensory fibers; a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
- asymmetric motor n. 1. n. in which the loss of function is more marked in the extremities of one side of the body; 2. one presentation of diabetic amyotrophy.
- auditory n. a disorder of hearing in children characterized by sensorineural hearing loss for pure tones, reduced word discrimination disproportionate to the pure-tone loss, normal outer hair cell function as determined by measurement of otoacoustic emissions, and absent or abnormal auditory brainstem response.
- compression n. a focal nerve lesion produced when sustained pressure is applied to a localized portion of the nerve, either from an external or internal source; the main source of injury is the pressure differential that exists between one portion of the nerve and another.
- dapsone n. a polyneuropathy that develops in patients taking dapsone (4,4-diaminodiphenylsulfone); unusual features include being a pure motor n. and beginning in the hands, sometimes asymmetrically. SYN: motor dapsone n..
- diabetic n. a generic term for any diabetes mellitus–related disorder of the peripheral nervous system, autonomic nervous system, and some cranial nerves.This most common of the chronic complications of diabetes can affect either the peripheral or the autonomic nervous system, or both. Peripheral neuropathies can cause bilaterally symmetric hypesthesia, hyperesthesia, paresthesia, loss of temperature and vibratory sense, or causalgia. Involvement of the autonomic nervous system may be manifested by postural hypotension, gastroparesis, alternating diarrhea and constipation, and impotence. The pathogenesis of chronic diabetic n. is poorly understood. Symptoms tend to progress, and the response to treatment is unpredictable. In contrast, cranial nerve palsies due to microangiopathy in diabetes mellitus often resolve spontaneously.
- diphtheritic n. a rapidly developing polyneuropathy caused by a toxin elaborated by Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
- entrapment n. a focal nerve lesion produced by constriction or mechanical distortion of the nerve, within a fibrous or fibro-osseous tunnel, or by a fibrous band; with these lesions, stretching and angulation of the nerve may be as important a source of injury as compression; entrapment neuropathies tend to occur at particular sites in the body.
- familial amyloid n. [MIM*105120, various kinds] a disorder in which various peripheral nerves are infiltrated with amyloid and their functions disturbed, an abnormal prealbumin is also formed and is present in the blood; characteristically, it begins during midlife and is found largely in persons of Portuguese descent; autosomal dominant inheritance. Other rare clinical types occur. SYN: familial amyloidosis, hereditary amyloidosis.
- giant axonal n. a rare disorder beginning at or after the third year of life, and presenting clinically with kinky hair, progressive painless clumsiness, muscle weakness and atrophy, sensory loss, and areflexia. Pathologically, both myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers contain axonal spheroids packed with neurofilaments; sporadic in nature.
- heavy metal n. peripheral nervous system disorders attributed to intoxication of one of the heavy metals: arsenic, gold, lead, mercury, platinum, and thallium.
- hereditary sensory radicular n. [MIM*162400] polyneuropathy characterized by the occurrence of severe, relapsing foot ulcerations of neuropathic origin, destruction of terminal digits of feet and hands, and a loss of sensation; autosomal dominant inheritance is associated with onset in the second decade or later.
- hypertrophic interstitial n. sensorimotor polyneuropathy characterized pathologically by collections of Schwann cell processes arranged concentrically around one or more nerve fibers. No genetic factors are known in its etiology.For hereditary types, see hereditary hypertrophic n..
- ischemic optic n. optic nerve n. secondary to hypoperfusion of the low pressure posterior ciliary arteries supplying the optic nerve head (nonarteritic) or to temporal arteritis (arteritic).
- lead n. a polyneuropathy reportedly seen in chronic lead intoxication; reputedly characterized by wrist-drop, but no convincing modern reports of this are available.
- leprous n. a slowly developing granulomatous n., commonly seen in leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae.
- onion bulb n. designation for any of several demyelinating polyneuropathies in which the nerves are enlarged because of onion bulb formation—whorls of overlapping Schwann cell processes encircling bare medullated axons; e.g., progressive hypertrophic polyneuropathy. See hypertrophic interstitial n..
- symmetric distal n. SYN: polyneuropathy.
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neu·rop·a·thy n(y)u̇-'räp-ə-thē n, pl -thies an abnormal and usu. degenerative state of the nervous system or nerves also a systemic condition (as muscular atrophy) that stems from a neuropathy
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n.
any disease of the peripheral nerves, usually causing weakness and numbness. In a mononeuropathy a single nerve is affected and the extent of the symptoms depends upon the distribution of that nerve. In a polyneuropathy (see peripheral neuropathy) many or all of the nerves are involved and the symptoms are most profound at the extremities of the limbs. See also diabetic neuropathy.
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neu·rop·a·thy (n
-ropґə-the) [neuro- + -pathy] a functional disturbance or pathological change in the peripheral nervous system, sometimes limited to noninflammatory lesions as opposed to those of neuritis; the etiology may be known or unknown. Known etiologies include complications of other diseases (such as diabetes or porphyria), or of toxicity states (such as poisoning with arsenic, isoniazid, lead, or nitrofurantoin). The terms mononeuropathy and 1. polyneuropathy may be used to denote whether one nerve or several are involved. A number of conditions may be called either neuropathies or polyneuropathies; if not found here, see under polyneuropathy. neuropathic adj
Medical dictionary. 2011.