Partial conduction block as an early nerve conduction finding in neurolymphomatosis

Hyung Jun Park, Ha Young Shin, Se Hoon Kim, Ha Neul Jeong, Young Chul Choi, Bum Chun Suh, Kee Duk Park, Seung Min Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background and Purpose Neurolymphomatosis is a rare manifestation of hematological malignancy and is characterized by direct infiltration of the peripheral nervous system. The objective of this study was to identify the clinical and electrophysiological features of neurolymphomatosis. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 13 patients with neurolymphomatosis. Seven (54%) of the patients were men, and the median age at symptom onset was 60.0 years. Results The most common type of underlying malignancy was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (69%). Twelve patients had painful asymmetric neuropathies. The median survival time after diagnosis was 7 months, and 12 patients died during the study period. Thirty-eight motor nerve conduction studies (NCSs) were performed in the affected nerves. Ten and 28 motor nerves were classified into the conduction-block and simple-axon-degeneration groups, respectively. The median time interval between symptom onset and the NCS was significantly shorter in the conduction-block group than in the simple-axon-degeneration group (p=0.032). However, no significant differences in the motor nerve conduction velocities, terminal laten-cies, and distal compound muscle action potential amplitudes were identified between the conduction-block and simple-axon-degeneration groups. The conduction-block group showed excessive temporal dispersion in only five of the ten NCSs (50%). Follow-up NCSs revealed that partial conduction blocks had changed into axonal degeneration patterns. Conclusions This is the first study to analyze the electrophysiological features of patients with neurolymphomatosis. Our findings showed that a partial conduction block is not rare and is an early nerve conduction abnormality in neurolymphomatosis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-80
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Clinical Neurology (Korea)
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program though the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (grant number: 2016R1D1A1B03932449).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Korean Neurological Association.

Keywords

  • Conduction block
  • Leukemia
  • Lymphoma
  • Nerve conduction study
  • Neurolymphomatosis

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