[Quantitative study of isolated nerve fibers in alcoholic neuropathy (author's transl)]

This is a report of qualitative and quantitative study of nerve fibres in alcoholic neuropathy. In order to determine the frequency of segmental demyelination in alcoholic neuropathy, 10 nerve biopsies from 9 patients were studied by teasing; 100 consecutive fibres were isolated from each nerve and classified according to their morphology. This study confirms that segmental demyelination is a rare finding in this condition. Segmental demyelination of peripheral nerve fibres occurred in three cases and affected 6 to 8 per cent of the fibres. Wallerian degeneration of nerve fibres was found in all ten nerve biopsy specimens and affected 31 to 98 percent of the isolated fibres.