Corneal confocal microscopy compared with quantitative sensory testing and nerve conduction for diagnosing and stratifying the severity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Maryam Ferdousi, Alise Kalteniece, Shazli Azmi, Ioannis N. Petropoulos, Anne Worthington, Luca D'Onofrio, Shaishav Dhage, Georgios Ponirakis, Uazman Alam, Andrew Marshall, Catharina G. Faber, Giuseppe Lauria, Handrean Soran, Rayaz A. Malik*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Introduction Diabetic neuropathy can be diagnosed and assessed using a number of techniques including corneal confocal microscopy (CCM).

Research design and methods We have undertaken quantitative sensory testing, nerve conduction studies and CCM in 143 patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes without neuropathy (n=51), mild neuropathy (n=47) and moderate to severe neuropathy (n=45) and age-matched controls (n=30).

Results Vibration perception threshold (p

Conclusion This study shows that CCM identifies early and progressive corneal nerve loss at the inferior whorl and central cornea and has comparable utility with quantitative sensory testing and nerve conduction in the diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number001801
Number of pages6
JournalBMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • cornea
  • diabetic neuropathies
  • diabetes complications
  • diagnosis
  • SMALL-FIBER NEUROPATHY
  • SENSORIMOTOR POLYNEUROPATHY
  • DAMAGE
  • MULTICENTER
  • MORPHOLOGY
  • SURROGATE
  • UTILITY
  • WHORL
  • SKIN

Cite this