Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Oct 1978
Case ReportsPainful legs and moving toes: evidence on the site of the lesion.
A condition of painful legs with moving toes was described in 1971. Further examples of this condition are now reported, showing lesions in the posterior root ganglion, cauda equina, nerve roots, or a peripheral nerve of the lower limb. It is concluded that this syndrome is caused by a lesion of the afferent fibres of the posterior nerve roots. It is likely that this lesion causes frequent spontaneous impulses in the posterior roots which activate local circuits of interneurones and motoneurones and result in co-ordinated movements involving local muscles.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Oct 1978
Peripheral nerve biopsies in the diagnosis of leprosy in Aboriginal patients from the Northern Territory of Australia.
In the 12 years from 1964 to 1976, 171 peripheral nerve biopsies were taken from 81 Aboriginal patients in the Northern Territory of Australia, in whom a diagnosis of leprosy was either known or strongly suspected. Sixty-eight biopsy samples were from 19 patients known to have leprosy, and who were under assessment for nerve grafting, results of which have already been published. ⋯ Several patients with enlarged peripheral nerves, in whom the biopsy findings did not confine leprosy, remain under observation; their future investigation will include lymphocyte transformation tests and testing with refined lepromin, together with repeat nerve biopsy, where ethical and feasible. The clinical and epidemiological data suggest that a previous, and perhaps self-healing, form of leprosy may account for the neurological findings.