Peripheral nerve ultrasound changes in CIDP and correlations with nerve conduction velocity

Objective: To evaluate the ultrasound (US) characteristics of peripheral nerves in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and their correlations with electrodiagnostic (EDX) characteristics. Methods: Nineteen patients with CIDP and 19 healthy controls matched by age and body mass index were included in a blind case-control, observational study. All patients underwent a neurologic examination (including inflammatory neuropathy cause and treatment [INCAT] and Medical Research Council [MRC] sum score) and an EDX study. Each patient and each control underwent a US study of 14 nerve segments, yielding a total number of 266 segments scanned in each group. Results: US changes, characterized by an increased nerve cross-sectional area (NCSA), were detected in 53% of the 266 patient nerve segments. Mean NCSA was higher in nerve segments of patients than in those of controls ( p p p p = 0.001) or in segments with normal EDX characteristics ( p R = 0.599; p p = 0.001). Conclusions: US may, similar to MRI, have a supporting role in the diagnosis of CIDP. US and EDX changes are correlated.