Abstract
Hereditary neuropathies are a heterogeneous group of genetically determined peripheral nerve diseases. In the vast majority of patients, they occur by 20 years of age, most typically during school age between ages 6 and 15, and are manifested by slowly progressive muscle weakness distally and, later on, by atrophies, initially and more predominantly in the lower limbs, as well as by sensory disturbance of varying severity with a distal maximum, sometimes even by trophic changes.
The onset of complaints with initial symptoms of the disease in preschool age or after 20 years of age is rarer, but also possible, and is, to a great degree, related to the particular gene disorder. Hereditary neuropathies are the most frequent genetically determined neuromuscular diseases, affecting approximately 4,000 people in the Czech Republic.
Hereditary neuropathies do not reduce normal life expectancy, but may lead to physical disability with loss or substantial worsening of independent gait and significantly affect the quality of life as well as self-locomotion and self-care. The intellectual level is typically normal.
The severity of disability largely depends on the genetic cause as well as on disease duration.