Somatotopic heat pain thresholds and intraepidermal nerve fibers in health.

Introduction: For sequential and somatotopic assessment of small fiber neuropathy, heat pain (HP) tests of hypoalgesia might be used instead of decreased counts of epidermal nerve fibers (ENFs), but then healthy subject reference values of HP thresholds are needed.

Methods: Using the Computer Assisted Sensation Evaluator IVc system, HP thresholds of hypoalgesia were estimated for 10 unilateral sites and counts of ENFs for 4 of them in healthy subjects.

Results: In healthy subjects, small but statistically significant differences of both HP thresholds of hypoalgesia and counts of ENFs were observed among tested sites.