Patients
Has a specialist recommended a skin biopsy for small fibre neuropathy? Leave your email and country. This helps us see where the analysis is needed; we will write only if a partner clinic starts taking biopsies in your country.
Thank you.
We will write if a partner clinic starts taking biopsies in your country.
Only a physician can order the analysis. Patients cannot order directly. The biopsy visit and the analysis are self-paid.
Questions
Does the biopsy hurt?
You feel a brief sting from the local anaesthetic; the biopsy itself is usually painless. You may feel mild soreness for a day or two.
Will it leave a scar?
A 3 mm punch usually heals without stitches and leaves a small mark of a few millimetres that fades over months.
Who reads the sample?
Mirna Anđelić, PhD, trained in this method at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, and the School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNs), Maastricht University.
Is this a diagnosis?
No. The report is a quantitative measurement that supports the clinical diagnosis made by your physician.
Can I do it without a doctor?
No. A physician orders the analysis and receives the report.
Where can I have the biopsy taken?
At a partner clinic. Partner clinics will be listed on this page; until then, you can register your interest above.
What if my EMG was normal?
Nerve conduction studies test large nerve fibres. Small fibres are not measured by EMG, which is why physicians consider a skin biopsy when symptoms persist and the EMG is normal.
What is IENFD?
Intraepidermal nerve fibre density: the number of small nerve fibres entering the epidermis per millimetre of skin section, counted in a stained skin biopsy.