Electromyography and clinical neurophysiology
-
Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol · Jan 2004
Comparison of sympathetic skin response between palmar hyperhidrotic and normal subjects.
Palmar hyperhidrosis is a disorder with excessive sweating. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the autonomic function in palmarhyperhidrotic patients with Sympathetic skin response (SSR) test. In this study SSr was performed for the upper limbs of 20 patients with palmar hyperhidrosis, who did not have any other systemic or localized wrist and palmar disease as "Involved Group" and 28 healthy subject as "Control Group" without any palmar hyperhidrosis, systemic or local disease. ⋯ V. < 0.001) 95%. Beside, in this study, we observed a direct correlation between severity of symptom and the degree of SSR abnormality. Therefore, involvement of sympathetic nervous system in palmar hyperhidrosis were highly suspected.
-
Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol · Sep 2003
Case ReportsFood-borne botulism cases in Van region in eastern Turkey: importance of electromyography in the diagnosis.
Food-borne botulism is an acute form of poisoning that results from ingestion of a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Botulism toxin causes its major effect by blocking neuromuscular transmission in autonomic and motor nerve terminals. ⋯ Although toxin could not be detected in the patients, the electromyographic findings supported our diagnosis. We concluded that electromyography has an important role in diagnosis of botulism, especially in the condition that serologic tests are negative or cannot be performed.
-
Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol · Jun 2003
Evaluations of inhibitory effect on the motor cortex by cutaneous pain via application of capsaicin.
To evaluation the effect of experimental tonic cutaneous pain on motor cortex excitability by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Thirty healthy adults (male: 12, female: 18) were tested with TMS. Cutaneous pain was induced by topical application of capsaicin cream (0.025%) on the skin overlying the flexor carpi radialis of dominant limb. ⋯ At ECR & OP, we could not demonstrate any changes in amplitude with time. Silent period at FCR only was significantly prolonged with the increase in VAS score. The present findings support that noxious cutaneous stimulation inhibit motor cortex excitability by so-called cortico-cortical circuits.
-
Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol · Apr 2003
Increased creatine kinase and spontaneous activity on electromyography, in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Mild to moderate elevation of muscle creatine kinase (CK) is commonly observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Although the determinants of increased the CK in ALS remain uncertain, we hypothesize that fasciculations and muscle denervation can be involved by damaging the muscle fibre. ⋯ The fasciculations,and the signs of denervation on EMG, are not determinants for high CK values in ALS patients, which are still unknown. Increased CK can be useful in the differential diagnosis of patients with lower motor neuron disorders.
-
Autonomic neuropathy is a complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) in substantial proportion of cases and may cause definite autonomic symptoms. Because conventional electrophysiological methods do not assess the autonomic nervous system, simple reproducible tests were developed. One of them is sympathetic skin response (SSR) which provides useful information about the status of sympathetic postganglionic function. ⋯ An absent response in at least one tested lower extremity (50%) and prolonged foot with normal hand latency (20%). 6 patients (30%) demonstrated no abnormalities. Foot and hand latencies in diabetics did not differ significantly from those of normal controls (p: 0.4, p: 0.1) and no correlation could be found with latencies and duration of sickness, patient's age and HbA1c values. We believe latency measurement is an objective measure of conduction in multineural pathways and can detect subclinical involvement of sympathetic nervous system in diabetics who do not manifest symptoms or signs referable to autonomic system dysfunction.