Ultrastructural studies in rheumatoid polyneuropathy

The biopsy material from the sural nerve of 8 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and showing, with one exception, positive serological reactions, were studied by means of electron microscopy. All the patients were displaying sensory and sensomotor neuropathy. Besides hypermyelination the damage of Schwann cells, the destruction on unmyelinated fibres and the proliferation and degeneration of the vascular endothelium were observed. No inflammatory signs were seen around the peri- and endoneurial vessels.