plasma cell differentiation [3-8]. IVIg also modulates cell-mediated immunity. It inhibits production of interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma by T cells, induces degradation of complement factors, and upregulates/downregulates expression of the FcγRII macrophage receptor [9-11]. An elegant experiment by Zhang et al. [12] revealed additional protective mechanisms of IVIg. The binding of mice anti-...

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by patchy demyelination of nerve roots and distal nerves. The course may be monophasic progressive or relapsing-remitting. CIDP is less common in children than in adults. As in adults, children with CIDP present with proximal and distal weakness and loss of deep tendon reflexes. Children are...

OBJECTIVE There is no consensus on which treatment should be used preferentially in individual patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Patients unlikely to respond to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) could be prescribed corticosteroids first to avoid high cost and a delayed treatment response. We investigated which factors determined a response to IVIg. METHOD...

Andoni Echaniz-Laguna, MD, PhD Nathalie Philippi, MD A 54-year-old man presented with 6 months of progressive gait unsteadiness and weakness of four limbs. Examination showed severe symmetric proximal and distal weakness of all limbs, hypesthesia below the knees, vibratory sensation loss in lower limbs and hands, absent tendon reflexes, and bilateral Babinski signs. CSF contained 19 g/L protein...

INTRODUCTION Polyneuropathy leads to postural instability and an increased risk of falling. We investigated how impaired motor impairment and proprioceptive input due to neuropathy influences postural strategies. METHODS Platformless bisegmental posturography data were recorded in healthy subjects and patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Each subject...

myelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that takes a relapsing–remitting or a progressive course (reviewed in Refs 1,2). Its counterpart in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) (reviewed in Ref. 3). In addition, there are acute, monophasic disorders, such as the inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy t...

OBJECTIVES To describe the pattern of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), and evaluate its local diagnostic and management practices. To define factors responsible for the delay in reaching a diagnosis and initiating treatment. METHODS Patients with the diagnosis of CIDP attending King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 1986 and 2006 were re...

OBJECTIVE To discover whether Inflammatory Neuropathy Cause and Treatment Group (INCAT) electrophysiological criteria for demyelinating neuropathy predict response to immunotherapy in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). METHODS This was a retrospective case note study of patients who had attended Guy's Hospital Peripheral Nerve Clinic between January 2001 and Mar...

A 59-year-old woman with a long-standing diagnosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) developed facial numbness and exophthalmos. Sural nerve biopsy revealed onion bulb formation consistent with CIDP. Neurologic examinations revealed distal dominant muscle atrophy with areflexia and impairment of all sensory modalities; cranial nerve involvement, including bilat...

OBJECTIVE Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculopathy (CIDP) is a common, but often misdiagnosed disease of the peripheral nervous system with assumed autoimmune pathogenesis. While current concepts of CIDP postulate a pathogenetic role of B cells and (auto)antibodies, the relevance of CD8 T cells present in the biopsies is still elusive. Thus, we asked whether nervous tissue infiltrat...