Sunday, November 9, 2014

Image of the Week 11/11/2014


What is notable about this patient’s hands? What diseases contribute to this condition?

1 comment:

  1. This is muscle atrophy—loss of muscle mass—in a patient with hereditary sensorimotor neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathies affect the longest nerve fibers first, and the feet and hands thus are affected in early stages of the disease. Peripheral neuropathy occurs in about one-half of individuals with diabetes. Many neuropathies affect large myelinated nerve fibers and, in these cases, there can be impaired motor function (weakness, muscle atrophy), loss of sensation (most often vibratory sensibility and joint position sense), and loss of deep tendon reflexes (ankle jerk, knee jerk etc.). Slowing in conduction velocity occurs in neuropathies when there is demyelination, such as in Guillain–BarrĂ© syndrome and in some chronic or hereditary neuropathies.

    Source: Clinical Neuroanatomy, 27e > Chapter 3. Signaling in the Nervous System

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