Pattern of myelinated fibre loss in the sural nerve in neuropathy related to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes

Sural nerve biopsies were obtained from 17 diabetic patients with neuropathy. All patients except three had both a symmetric distal sensory and autonomic polyneuropathy related to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus; 3 patients had a purely sensory polyneuropathy. Mean age was 34.5 years (range 18–53 years). The biopsies were compared with specimens from an age-matched control series. Myelinated fibre loss in the diabetic nerves was found to be nonuniform. Although patchy fibre loss has been considered to favour a vascular basis, an identical pattern of nonuniform loss was observed in a series of sural nerve biopsies from patients with Type I hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, a subgroup within the spectrum of peroneal muscular atrophy, mainly of autosomal dominant inheritance, and a condition in which a vascular causation can be discounted. Possible reasons for nonuniform fibre loss other than vascular disease are discussed.