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. 2020 Feb;37(2):343-349.
doi: 10.1111/dme.14085. Epub 2019 Aug 2.

Sonographic assessment of nerve blood flow in diabetic neuropathy

A A Borire  1 , T Issar  1 , N C Kwai  2 , L H Visser  3 , N G Simon  4 , A M Poynten  5 , M C Kiernan  6 , A V Krishnan  1
Affiliations

Sonographic assessment of nerve blood flow in diabetic neuropathy

A A Borire et al. Diabet Med. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Aims: To undertake sonographic assessment of nerve blood flow in people with Type 2 diabetes and correlate the findings with neuropathy severity scores and electrophysiological measurements.

Methods: Median and tibial nerve ultrasound scans were undertaken in 75 people with diabetes and 30 aged-matched controls without diabetes, using a high-resolution linear probe at non-entrapment sites. Nerve blood flow was quantified using power Doppler techniques to obtain the vessel score and the maximum perfusion intensity. Neuropathy severity was assessed using a total neuropathy score.

Results: Diabetic nerves had higher rates of nerve blood flow detection (28%) compared to the control group (P < 0.0001). Significant correlations were found between nerve blood flow measurements and nerve size (P <0.001), reported sensory symptoms (P < 0.05) and neuropathy severity scores (P < 0.001). The cohort with diabetes had significantly larger median (8.5 ± 0.3 mm2 vs 7.2 ± 0.1 mm2 ; P < 0.05) and tibial nerves (18.0 ± 0.9 mm2 vs 12.8 ± 0.5 mm2 ; P < 0.05) compared with controls.

Conclusion: Peripheral nerve hypervascularity is detectable by ultrasonography in moderate to severe diabetic neuropathy with prominent sensory dysfunction.

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References

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