Abstracts of the 8th Meeting of the Italian Peripheral Nerve Study Group: 7

Autor: B Nucciarone, D Borghetti, Gabriele Siciliano, P Maritato, G Moscato, R Calabrese, O Baglini, Ferdinando Sartucci
Rok vydání: 2003
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. 8:29-58
ISSN: 1085-9489
DOI: 10.1046/j.1529-8027.2003.00007.x
Popis: The pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the progressive death of upper and lower motor neurons, leading to a clinical pictures mainly characterized by weakness, muscle wasting, brisk reflexes and Babinski sign. Routine electromyographic and electroneurographic studies are mandatory to a correct diagnosis but are unable to precisely quantify the pathological changes in the motor unit. Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) is a recent neurophysiological technique that allows to estimate number and amplitude of motor units in single muscles in order to assess the severity of ALS and to follow-up the progression of the disease. We applied this technique in 15 patients (12 male and 3 female; mean age ± SD: 65.7 ± 9.5 yrs, range 45–82), affected by definite or probable ALS according to El Escorial Criteria, and in 11 healthy subjects (4 male and 7 female; mean age ± SD: 63.7 ± 8.2 yrs, range 50–76), in order to assess changes in motor unit features of abductor digiti minimi (ADM) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. We found a significant difference (p
Databáze: OpenAIRE