Role of the blink reflex in the evaluation of sensory neuronopathy

Because of an incidental observation that the blink reflex was normal in paraneoplastic sensory neuronopathy (SN) and frequently abnormal in nonparaneoplastic SN, the authors reviewed the electromyographic records of patients with SN in whom blink reflex studies were performed. The blink reflex was normal in all 17 patients with paraneoplastic SN and abnormal in 20 of 43 patients with nonparaneoplastic SN. Although it does not exclude paraneoplastic SN, an abnormal blink reflex favors a nonparaneoplastic etiology.