CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING POLYRADICULONEUROPATHY WITH DIFFUSE AND MASSIVE PERIPHERAL-NERVE HYPERTROPHY - DISTINCTIVE CLINICAL AND MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING FEATURES

We present 3 patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradi culoneuropathy (CIDP) with extensive and diffuse hypertrophy of the ne rve roots and peripheral nerves. They exhibited slowly progressive sen sory impairment and distally predominant limb weakness and muscular at rophy, and markedly enlarged palpable nerve trunks. They responded ben eficially to corticosteroid. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated d iffuse and extensive hypertrophy of the peripheral nerves in the four limbs and the spinal nerve roots, with gadolinium enhancement in the n erve roots but not in the peripheral nerves. These patients were consi dered to have a hypertrophic variant of CIDP. (C) 1998 John Wiley & So ns, Inc.