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Small Fiber Neuropathy and Related Syndromes: Pain and Neurodegeneration pp 11–24Cite as

Pathology of Small Fiber Neuropathy: Skin Biopsy for the Analysis of Nociceptive Nerve Fibers

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Abstract

Reduced skin innervation as shown by immunostaining in skin biopsies is a sensitive and specific indicator of small fiber neuropathy (SFN). Standard methods for staining and quantification have been established, and normative values are available. However, not every condition with reduced skin innervation is a SFN, and not all types of disorders with pathological small fiber function manifest with reduced skin innervation. Identification of nociceptor subpopulations in humans in the skin is only beginning to yield data. Detection of inflammatory cells and pathologic deposits are additional diagnostic benefits of skin biopsy.

Keywords

  • Skin biopsy
  • Small fiber neuropathy
  • Protein gene product 9.5
  • Intraepidermal nerve fiber density
  • Subepidermal nerve fibers
  • Ranvier nodes
  • Amyloidosis
  • Fabry disease

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-3546-4_2
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Fig. 2.3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Claudia Sommer

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  1. Claudia Sommer
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Correspondence to Claudia Sommer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Prof. Dr. Sung-Tsang Hsieh

  2. Department of Neurology, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK

    Prof. Dr. Praveen Anand

  3. Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Prof. Dr. Christopher H. Gibbons

  4. Neurologische Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg , Würzburg, Germany

    Prof. Dr. Claudia Sommer

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Sommer, C. (2019). Pathology of Small Fiber Neuropathy: Skin Biopsy for the Analysis of Nociceptive Nerve Fibers. In: Hsieh, ST., Anand, P., Gibbons, C., Sommer, C. (eds) Small Fiber Neuropathy and Related Syndromes: Pain and Neurodegeneration. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3546-4_2

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