Originally Posted by glenntaj

here's what my first skin biopsy report said (without the extraneous stuff about how the sample was collected):

Epidermal nerve fibers per millimeter:

Thigh Mean 4.7
Range 3.0-7.7
Reference Values: 21.1 +/- 10.4; range 2.9--57.5
Fifth percentile value 5.2

Leg Mean 3.2
Range 1.3-4.3
Reference Values: 13.8 +/- 5.6; range 0.6--32.2
Fifth percentile value 3.8

The reference values indicate the mean in the tested reference group, which presumably included normals and people suffering from small-fiber syndromes normals (first number), then the standard deviation in that group (the +/- number), then the total range across everyone. These are known as the McArthur protocols. The fifth percentile values are then given, and as you can see, my means are both below that value, so by protocol definition, I have "abnormal intraepidermal nerve fiber density, consistent with a small fiber neuropathy". The report also states "the nerve fibers within the thigh suggest excessive branching, also consistent with a small-fiber neuropathy".

In my most recent skin biopsy, my thigh mean comes back at 9.5, and my leg mean comes back 5.8, which they tell me averages out at about the 18th percentile. This was almost two years ago--it's possible I would show even more re-enervation now, but who knows at what figures I "began".