Small fiber neuropathy in Fabry disease.

Abstract

Previous studies have explicitly shown that small nerve fibers are affected in Fabry disease which is assumed to cause the severe neuropathic pain that patients may have from childhood on. Neuropathic pain and small fiber neuropathy characteristics have therefore been considered as appropriate study endpoints in studies on the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy. However, the relationship between small fiber neuropathy characteristics and pain, as well as the course of small fiber neuropathy in Fabry disease is still uncertain. In this article a comprehensive overview of the existing literature on small nerve fiber function and structure and the relationship with pain, age and disease severity is presented supplemented with data from the Dutch Fabry cohort, with the aim to identify consensus as well as controversies and to propose a hypothesis on the evolution of neuropathy in Fabry disease.

• Authors: Marieke Biegstraaten, Carla E M Hollak, Mayienne Bakkers, Catharina G Faber, Johannes M F G Aerts, Ivo N van Schaik
• Journal: Molecular genetics and metabolism (Mol Genet Metab) Vol. 106 Issue 2 Pg. 135-41 (Jun 2012) ISSN: 1096-7206 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22497776 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Age Factors
• Enzyme Replacement Therapy
• Fabry Disease (complications)
• Humans
• Nerve Fibers (pathology)
• Neuralgia (etiology)
• Polyneuropathies (diagnosis, etiology, therapy)
• Sex Factors