Polyneuritis

Peripheral neuropathy
Micrograph showing a vasculitic peripheral neuropathy; plastic embedded; Toluidine blue stain
Classification and external resources
Specialty	Neurology
ICD-10	G64, G90.0
ICD-9-CM	356.0, 356.8
DiseasesDB	9850
MedlinePlus	000593
Patient UK	Peripheral neuropathy
MeSH	D010523
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Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is damage to or disease affecting nerves, which may impair sensation, movement, gland or organ function, or other aspects of health, depending on the type of nerve affected. Common causes include systemic diseases (such as diabetes or leprosy), vitamin deficiency, medication (e.g., chemotherapy, or commonly prescribed antibiotics including Metronidazole and the Fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin, Avelox etc.)), traumatic injury, radiation therapy, excessive alcohol consumption, immune system disease, Coeliac disease, or viral infection. It can also be genetic (present from birth) or idiopathic (no known cause). In conventional medical usage, the word neuropathy (, "nervous system" and , "disease of") without modifier usually means peripheral neuropathy.

Neuropathy affecting just one nerve is called "mononeuropathy" and neuropathy involving multiple nerves in roughly the same areas on both sides of the body is called "symmetrical polyneuropathy" or simply "polyneuropathy". When two or more (typically just a few, but sometimes many) separate nerves in disparate areas of the body are affected it is called "mononeuritis multiplex", "multifocal mononeuropathy", or "multiple mononeuropathy".

Peripheral neuropathy may be chronic (a long-term condition where symptoms begin subtly and progress slowly) or acute (sudden onset, rapid progress, and slow resolution). Acute neuropathies demand urgent diagnosis. Motor nerves (that control muscles), sensory nerves, or autonomic nerves (that control automatic functions such as heart rate, body temperature, and breathing) may be affected. More than one type of nerve may be affected at the same time. Peripheral neuropathies may be classified according to the type of nerve predominantly involved, or by the underlying cause.

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Wikipedia