Polyneuropathies are nowadays a frequently diagnosed disease whereby a substantial part of the cases remain cryptogenic as far as the etiopathogenesis is concerned. Chronic alcohol abuse is generally known as a potential cause of polyneuropathy, nevertheless the diagnosis of the alcoholic form is based so far on very inaccurate anamnestic data and the possible finding of typical hepatopathy. The authors used laboratory assessment of the carbohydrate deficient transferrin level which makes it possible to detect daily consumption of more than 60 g of pure alcohol even during periods of short-term abstinence to assess the proportion of subjects with chronic alcohol abuse among patients with cryptogenic polyneuropathy. A special group was formed by patients reporting as the cause of their condition chronic exposure to toxic substances in their working environment. In the control group of 105 patients with discogenic root syndrome the authors revealed, using the CDT test, signs of chronic alcohol abuse in 7.6%. In the group of 100 patients with the diagnosis of cryptogenic polyneuropathy this finding was recorded in 38%, in a group of 32 patients with cryptogenic polyneuropathy reporting prolonged exposure to toxic substances in the working environment in 32.3%. Based on anamnestic data and routine laboratory examinations an alcoholic pathogenesis could be assumed in less than one third of patients with a positive CDT test. The authors reached the conclusion that chronic alcohol abuse is the probable cause or at least an important pathogenetic factor in more than one third of patients with so-called cryptogenic polyneuropathy whereby the same applies to cases with a suspect occupational toxic etiopathogenesis

        Key words: polyneuropathy, alcohol, carbohydrate deficient transferrin