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Histopathologic evaluation of epidermal nerve fibers (ENFs) is a very useful technique for diagnosing small-fiber neuropathies. Clinicians currently use skin-punch biopsy to obtain the tissue sample. To evaluate a less-invasive technique, researchers compared skin-punch biopsy with the investigational suction skin-blister method in 25 healthy volunteers. Tissue samples were obtained from the foot and calf, frozen, and immunostained using antibodies against protein gene product 9.5, an axonal marker, and type IV collagen, a basement-membrane marker. The researchers employed confocal microscopy and used a software program to quantitate ENFs from four regions. Nerve fiber density was expressed as the number of nerve fibers per epidermal surfac…