AN ELECTION MICROSCOPE STUDY OF DEGENERATIVE CHANGES IN HUMAN CUTANEOUS NERVE

Abstract

A biopsy preparation of human cutaneous nerve from a case diagnosed as a Guillain Barré syndrome has provided extensive electron microscope data relating to nerve degeneration. Fibers in advanced stages of degeneration showed extensive or complete loss of axonal material and the myelin sheaths showed varying degress of fragmentation leading to the formation of independent myelin droplets in which the normal characteristics of the myelin layers were maintained. It is suggested that this fragmentation of the myelin sheath may be due largely to physical stresses which arise when the axonal material is removed.