Technique to Measure Type C Fibre Nerve Conduction Velocitynerve Fibers in Polyneuropathies

Peripheral nerve diseases can separately affect different kind of nerve fibres. Globally two kinds of fibres can be distinguished: large size and small size. The usual electromyogram only investigates large size fibres. Techniques to explore small size fibre function exist but are not used in common practice because of their very specialized aspect or their lack of diagnostic value. The purpose of this study is to develop a measurement technique of small size type C nerve fibre conduction velocity, to show that this velocity is reduced in patients suffering from polyneuropathies and to establish reference values in healthy patients.