Hypoxic neuropathy: does hypoxia play a role in diabetic neuropathy? The 1988 Robert Wartenberg lecture

In this report I review: (1) the blood supply and endoneurial microenvironment of nerve; (2) the class, type, and spatial distribution of nerve fiber degeneration as a function of number, site, and class of vessels occluded; (3) the putative mechanisms of nerve hypoxia; and (4) the role of hypoxia in diabetic polyneuropathy.