Sensory and Neurohistological Correlates of Cutaneous Hyperpathia

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Abstract
SENSORY PHENOMENA and the associated cutaneous neurohistological changes which characterize punctate hyperpathic spots have seldom been examined or correlated. Such a correlative study has been the primary concern of this clinical investigation. "Hyperpathia" in this report denotes a state of sensibility in which a subject reports the sensation elicited by a non-noxious cutaneous stimulus as "painful," or in which a mildly noxious stimulus elicits a response which is characterized by overreaction, radiation, and persistence. "Hypesthetic" and "hypalgesic" describe skin responding only to a more intense stimulus than is required to elicit a response from normal skin, or describe an area in which the subject feels a suprathreshold stimulus as less painful or lighter than in normal skin. "Anesthetic" (clinically) refers to spots insensitive to cotton wisps or a single light pinprick. Material and Methods Clinical data were gathered from 20 patients demonstrating hyperpathia from a variety of lesions in the