RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Chronic idiopathic polyneuropathy presenting in middle or old age: a clinical and electrophysiological study of 75 patients. JF Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP 1066 OP 1071 DO 10.1136/jnnp.56.10.1066 VO 56 IS 10 A1 N C Notermans A1 J H Wokke A1 H Franssen A1 Y van der Graaf A1 M Vermeulen A1 L H van den Berg A1 P R Bär A1 F G Jennekens YR 1993 UL http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/56/10/1066.abstract AB The clinical and electrophysiological features were prospectively studied of 75 patients (46 men and 29 women) with chronic polyneuropathy presenting in middle or old age in whom a diagnosis could not be made even after extensive evaluation and a follow up of six months. The mean age at the onset of symptoms was 56.5 years. The clinical features of chronic idiopathic polyneuropathy are heterogeneous. On clinical grounds 44 patients had a sensorimotor, 29 patients a sensory, and two patients a motor polyneuropathy. The overall clinical course in chronic idiopathic polyneuropathy was slowly progressive. None of the patients became severely disabled. Electrophysiological and nerve biopsy studies were compatible with an axonal polyneuropathy. Antibodies against myelin associated glycoprotein, gangliosides, and sulphatides were assessed in 70 patients and found to be negative.