Background: Liver transplantation holds promise as a treatment for familial amyloid polyneuropathy.
Objective: To determine whether peripheral nerves regenerate in patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy after liver transplantation.
Design: Case report.
Setting: University hospital in Matsumoto, Japan.
Patient: A 34 year-old-women with familial amyloid polyneuropathy who had liver transplantation and showed marked clinical improvement 3 years after surgery.
Measurements: Histopathologic examination and morphometric analysis of biopsy specimens taken from sural nerves.
Results: Diffuse fiber loss and amyloid deposits were seen in a biopsy specimen of the left sural nerve obtained before liver transplantation (total number of myelinated fibers, 1326/mm2 of the endoneurial area). In the biopsy specimen of the right sural nerve, which was obtained 3 years after transplantation, amyloid deposits remained but the number of myelinated fibers was markedly increased (total number of myelinated fibers, 4740/mm2).
Conclusion: Peripheral nerves regenerated in a patient with familial amyloid polyneuropathy after liver transplantation.