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Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease - Overview

Alternative Names

Progressive neuropathic (peroneal) muscular atrophy; Hereditary peroneal nerve dysfunction; Neuropathy - peroneal (hereditary); Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy

Definition of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease:

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a group of disorders passed down through families that affect the nerves outside the brain and spine. These are called the peripheral nerves.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Charcot-Marie-Tooth is one of the most common nerve-related disorders passed down through families (inherited). Problems in at least 40 genes cause different forms of this disease.

The disease leads to damage or destruction to the covering (myelin sheath) around nerve fibers.

  • Reviewed last on: 8/4/2011
  • Chad Haldeman-Englert, MD, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Section on Medical Genetics, Winston-Salem, NC. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Sarnat HB. Hereditary Motor-Sensory Neuropathies. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th Ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 612.
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