Enteric neuropathies: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Abstract

Enteric neuropathy is a term indicating an impairment of the innervation supplying the gastrointestinal tract. The clinical phenotypes of the enteric neuropathies are the 'tip of the iceberg' of severe functional digestive diseases, such as intestinal pseudo-obstruction syndromes (e.g., chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction). Despite progress acquired over the years, the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to enteric neuropathies are still far from being elucidated and the therapeutic approaches to these patients are mainly supportive, rather than curative.The purpose of this chapter is to review the advancements that have been done in the knowledge of enteric neuropathies identified in adult patients ('tomorrow'), going through where we currently are ('today') following a brief history of the major milestones on the pioneering discoveries in the field ('yesterday').