Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33629393›Full record

ReviewMuscle & nerve2021

Nerve biopsy: Current indications and decision tools.

Dev Nathani, Judith Spies, Michael H Barnett, John Pollard, Min-Xia Wang, Claudia Sommer, Matthew C Kiernan

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Muscle & nerve, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Neurosurgical Intervention for Nerve and Muscle Biopsies.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Dev NathaniBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Judith SpiesBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Michael H BarnettBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
John PollardBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Min-Xia WangBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Claudia SommerNeurologische Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7064-5002
Matthew C KiernanBrain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9054-026X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

After initial investigation of patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of neuropathy, a clinical decision is made for a minority of patients to undergo further assessment with nerve biopsy. Many nerve biopsies do not demonstrate a definitive pathological diagnosis and there is considerable cost and morbidity associated with the procedure. This highlights the need for appropriate selection of patients, nerves and neuropathology techniques. Additionally, concomitant muscle and skin biopsies may improve the diagnostic yield in some cases. Several advances have been made in diagnostics in recent years, particularly in genomics. The indications for nerve biopsy have consequently changed over time. This review explores the current indications for nerve biopsies and some of the issues surrounding its use. Also included are comments on alternative diagnostic modalities that may help to supplant or reduce the use of nerve biopsy as a diagnostic test. These primarily include extraneural biopsy and neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance neurography and nerve ultrasound. Finally, we propose an algorithm to assist in deciding when to perform nerve biopsies.

Indexed as

HumansMuscle, SkeletalNerve TissueNeurosurgical ProceduresPeripheral Nervous System DiseasesSkinSural Nervedecision aidindications for biopsynerve biopsyneuropathologyvasculitic neuropathy

Identifiers

PMID33629393
PMCPMC8359441

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.