The authors conducted a study on fifty-nine diabetic patients through measurement of the F wave parameters and comparison of the results with the distal motor nerve conduction velocity(MNCV) to grasp the nature of the segmental involvement in
diabetic polyneuropathy (diabetic PN).
In the patients with diabetic PN and carpal tunnel syndrome, in contrast to the control subjects, the following significant differences in increase and decrease were found: median F wave latency (FWL) -increase; F ratio and
MNCV-decrease,
tibial FWL-increase; F wave conduction velocity(FWCV) and MNCV-decrease. The FWL, among the F wave parameters, most usefully reflected the diabetic PN. In the incidence of abnormality of the nerve conduction study in patients with
diabetic
PN, the median and tibial MNCV were for more frequent than the FWCV in the same nerves, and the tibial MNCV was much more frequent than the median MNCV. The incidence of the decrease of FWCV and the increase of F ratio that reflect the
abnormality
of the proximal segment of the nerve in patients with diabetic PN were 2% and 5% in the nerve, and 8% and 3% in the tibial nerve, respectively.
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