Thesis

114 visual acuity, best visual acuity, slit lamp examination, and fundoscopy. The anterior chamber angle of the eyes was determined using the Van Herrick technique. Neuropathy Assessment Neuropathy assessment was performed as previously described.22 Briefly these include: a diagnosis of “probable SFN” is based on symptoms, clinical signs during neurological evaluation (presence of 2 or more clinical signs such as: hypoalgesia, allodynia, hyperalgesia and thermal hypoesthesia, see Table 1 for all symptoms), and normal nerve conduction studies, as defined according to the Besta criteria.13 Table 1 Symptoms related to small fiber neuropathy General Symptoms Sensory disturbances Autonomic dysfunction Fatigue Neuropathic pain Skin changes Cognitive disturbances Burning sensations Sweating abnormalities Headache Paresthesia Vision Widespread musculoskeletal pain Hypoesthesia/numbness Urinary tract Tingling Dry mouth Itching Gastrointestinal dysmobility Frostbite-like sensations Orthostasis Bedsheet/clothing intolerance Palpitations Stocking-glove / random / migratory and/or intermittent Bowel or bladder changes Hot flushes Sexual dysfunction SFN Phenotyping Questionnaire By introducing a new SFN phenotyping questionnaire (SFNPQ), we distinguished patient-reported length-dependent, non-length-dependent, intermittent and continuous pain. In addition, we identified the anatomical level of pain, see Appendix 1 for full questionnaire. The newly developed SFNPQ consisted of three different questions: 1. Do you feel pain intermittently or continuously?  Intermittently  Continuously 2. Please identify the anatomical level of pain:  Pain in skin  Pain in muscles  Pain in joints  Fill in: pain in … 3. Please mark the anatomical location of pain in the figure below, see Figure 1. Mark only the areas that apply to you. Participants were required to use a blue pencil for intermittent pain and a red pencil to locate continuous pain. Intermittent pain was defined as any pain that is not continuously present on a daily basis. Figure 1 was displayed four times, each representing one anatomical level as mentioned in the second question. This questionnaire was completed independently by the patients. In addition to the SFNPQ, the SFNSL was administered.23 7 120 7

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