Polyneuropathy and Polyclonal Gammopathy
March 1, 1998
Polyneuropathy and Polyclonal Gammopathy
Source: Gorson KC, et al. Prevalence of polyclonal gammopathy in polyneuropathy. Neurology 1997;49:1747.
Ten percent of patients with idiopathic poly-neuropathy have a monoclonal gammopathy, compared to 2.5% of patients with polyneuropathy due to a secondary cause and 0.1-3% of the general population (Kelly JJ. Muscle Nerve 1985;8:138-150). Uncovering a monoclonal protein clearly has significant implications for diagnosis and therapy (Latov NL. Ann Neurol 1995;37 [S1]:S32-S42). Polyclonal gammopathies (PG), on the other hand, have no such significance. Among patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) (n = 76), chronic idiopathic axonal neuropathy (n = 69), diabetic polyneuropathy (n = 63), acute ischemic stroke (n = 63), radiculopathy (n = 21), headache (n = 23), depression (n = 7), TIA (n = 6), dementia (n = 6), dizziness (n = 3), other neurologic disorders (n = 17), and 90 healthy blood donors, the prevalence of PG in CIDP was similar to that in diabetic neuropathy and other neurologic disorders. No specific relationship links PG and polyneuropathy. -mr
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