Inherited neuropathy can cause postpartum foot drop - HNPP mutation

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Abstract from Anesth Analg. 2005 Feb;100(2):547-8.

Inherited neuropathy can cause postpartum foot drop.

s G, Hinds NP.

MRCP, Department of Neurology, Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery,

Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool, UK L9 7LJ.

Postpartum neurological complications occur in up to 1% of deliveries. Often

prior anesthetic procedures are blamed, with medicolegal implications. We

describe a young woman who presented with postpartum foot drop diagnosed as an

iatrogenic L5 root lesion after uncomplicated epidural anesthesia. After

neurological assessment some 5 mo later she tested positive for the common

hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies mutation that was a

likely contributing factor in the development of her postpartum neuropathy.

Anesthesiologists should consider hereditary neuropathies in the differential

diagnosis of postpartum or postsurgical neurological deficits if there is a

suggestive clinical history.