[Urinary excretion of hydroxyproline in patients with lesions of the peripheral nervous system]

Seventy-one urinary total hydroxyproline determinations were carried out by the Prockop-Udenfried method in 61 patients with central nervous system damage (Bell's palsy, pareses of small muscles or muscle groups caused by damage to peripheral nerves or nerve roots, brachial plexus injury and motor polyneuropathy) and in 45 controls. Significantly raised urinary hydroxyproline excretion was found in cases of brachial plexus injury and severe motor polyneuropathy. This excretion in subgroups of Bell's palsy and damage to single nerves or roots was not significantly different from that in controls.