New Zealand researchers used ultrasound to measure the cross-sectional area of the sural and fibular nerves in order to differentiate between acquired and hereditary nerve pathologies:
- a control group of 34 healthy subjects was set up and compared with three other groups,
- one consisting of 17 patients with CANVAS syndrome (including ataxia and neuronopathy),
- the second with 18 patients suffering from CMT2 (axonal form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease),
- and the third with 18 individuals suffering from an acquired length-dependent neuropathy,
- the nerves of the lower limbs in the hereditary pathologies (CANVAS and CMT2) were significantly thinner than those observed in the acquired pathologies.
This technique is interesting and non-invasive. It may be useful while waiting for genetic tests to clear the pathology.
