Panoutsopoulou Ioanna G, Luciano Carlos A, Wendelschafer-Crabb Gwen, Hodges James S, Kennedy William R
Department of Dermatology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Muscle Nerve. 2015 Mar;51(3):378-84. doi: 10.1002/mus.24329.
Epidermal nerve fiber (ENF) density, morphology, and epidermal innervation patterns were examined in children using 2 different techniques, punch biopsy and suction blister.
Healthy children without symptoms or history of peripheral neuropathy and normal by neurologic examination were studied. Punch biopsy and suction blister specimens were collected from the lateral thigh and distal leg. ENFs were traced from confocal images of immunohistochemically stained samples. Statistical methods included repeated-measures analysis of covariance.
Blister and biopsy nerve counts were associated. ENF density in children was dense, lower for older children (P<0.01) and with no difference between boys and girls (P=0.92). Many ENFs appeared multibranched and elongated.
Epidermal innervation in the pediatric population is dense and age-dependent. Blister specimens are less invasive and may provide an alternative to punch biopsy for determining ENF density in children at risk for neuropathy.
采用两种不同技术（打孔活检和吸疱法）对儿童的表皮神经纤维（ENF）密度、形态及表皮神经支配模式进行了研究。
对无症状、无周围神经病变病史且神经系统检查正常的健康儿童进行研究。从大腿外侧和小腿远端采集打孔活检和吸疱标本。通过免疫组化染色样本的共聚焦图像追踪ENF。统计方法包括重复测量协方差分析。
水疱和活检的神经计数相关。儿童的ENF密度较高，年龄较大儿童的ENF密度较低（P<0.01），男孩和女孩之间无差异（P=0.92）。许多ENF呈多分支且细长状。
儿童人群的表皮神经支配密集且与年龄相关。水疱标本侵入性较小，对于有神经病变风险的儿童，在确定ENF密度方面可能是打孔活检的一种替代方法。
