[Diagnosis of peripheral neuropathies: general characteristics of the population study]

The objective of the present investigation was to study the general characteristics of a population of 209 patients with peripheral neuropathies seen at the University Hospital of Ribeirão Preto from March 1985 to February 1987. Few studies have been devoted to the evaluation of patients in order to investigate the factors that may or may not contribute to the diagnosis of these conditions. The types of neuropathy detected were (in decreasing order of frequency): polyneuropathies, mononeuropathies and multineuropathies. Acquired forms were particularly outstanding in the first group and brachial plexus injuries in the second. Mean patient age was 36.4 years (range: 18 days to 81 years). Polyneuropathies prevailed among males and mononeuropathies among females, whereas multineuropathies equally affected males and females. Patient follow-up was less than 6 months for 52.6% of cases and less than one year for 7.3%. The significance and importance of these findings are discussed.