Unusual presentation of hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies

Abstract

Background: Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal-dominant painless peripheral neuropathy characterized by episodes of repeated focal pressure neuropathies at sites of entrapment/compression, with a considerable variability in the clinical course. Electrodiagnostic and genetic testing are important in the diagnostic evaluation of these patients. Case presentation: We report an unusual HNPP phenotype, five compression neuropathies in four nerves in a patient with bilateral hand numbness. A 42-year-old female, presented with acute bilateral paresthesias and weakness in her hands after starting yoga exercises requiring hyperextension of her hands at the wrists. Her presentation was complicated by: a) a remote history of acute onset foot drop and subsequent improvement, b) previous diagnoses of demyelinating peripheral neuropathy, possibly Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and c) exposure to leprosy. Electrodiagnostic testing showed 5 separate compression neuropathies in 4 nerves including: severe left and right ulnar neuropathies at the wrist, left and right median neuropathies at the wrist and left ulnar neuropathy at the elbow. There was a mild generalized, primarily demyelinating, peripheral polyneuropathy. Based on the clinical suspicion and electrodiagnostic findings, consistent with profound demyelination in areas of compression, genetic analysis was done which identified a deletion of the PMP-22 gene consistent with HNPP. Conclusion: HNPP can present with unusual phenotypes, such as 5 separate mononeuropathies, bilateral ulnar and median neuropathies at the wrists and ulnar neuropathy at the elbow with mild peripheral demyelinating polyneuropathy associated with the PMP-22 gene deletion. © 2008 Farooq et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.