Ischemic Mononeuropathy Multiplex Associated With Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

MONONEUROPATHY multiplex is a syndrome characterized by simultaneous or successive dysfunction of several peripheral nerve trunks remote from one another. It thus differs from polyneuropathy which implies a more diffuse and symmetrical disorder. The causes of mononeuropathy multiplex include polyarteritis nodosa, disseminated lupus erythematosis, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, hemophilia, leprosy, trauma, and involvement of nerve by tumor. It also occurs in patients with diabetes mellitus, and when no other cause is found, it is attributed to the diabetes and is classified among the diabetic neuropathies. However, its relationship to the other forms of diabetic neuropathy is unclear, and as is the case for all of them, the pathology and the pathogenesis are unsettled. Diabetic mononeuropathy multiplex tends to affect elderly patients with mild, or undiscovered, diabetes. It has an acute or subacute onset with a tendency to recover over a period of months, and usually causes a painful, asymmetrical, often proximal