[Contribution to electromyography of muscular atrophies in progressive arthritis].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Spinal muscular atrophy is the most common autosomal-recessive genetic disorder lethal to infants. It was first described in the 1890s. Since then our understanding of the disorder has progressed significantly. Progression of the disease is due to loss of anterior horn cells, thought to be caused by apoptosis. Diagnosis is based on the course of the illness, as well as certain changes seen on nerve and muscle biopsy and electrodiagnostic studies. More recently, our understanding of the genetics of this disorder has provided a noninvasive approach to diagnosis. This method of testing has its downside, but the quest for a more sensitive analysis is still underway. Even though our knowledge of this disease has come a long way since its first recognition, the therapies available to these children are still only supportive. Again, researchers eagerly look for new therapeutic interventions to allow for improved quality of life and an extended life span.
Twelve children with progressive spinal muscular atrophy were seen at Santo Antonio Children Hospital, Porto Alegre. Diagnosis was based on neurological evaluation, serum enzymes, electroneuromyography and muscle biopsy. Several aspects are discussed by the authors, especially those concerning the presentation mode of the illness and the laboratory investigation. Our results are reviewed under the light of the current literature.
Myoclonus occurs in a variety of pathological conditions, some inherited. We recently evaluated 3 members of a Louisiana-Texas family with an autosomal dominant disorder manifested by adult-onset, generalized, stimulus-sensitive myoclonus and slowly progressive distal muscle weakness and wasting. The analyses of cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid before and after probenecid provided some evidence of impaired turnover of central dopamine and serotonin. Treatment with clonazepam resulted in complete and lasting improvement of the myoclonus. A postmortem examination in 1 member of the family revealed chiefly neuronal degeneration of the anterior horn cells, Clark's nucleus, and the lower cranial nerve nuclei. A similar syndrome has not previously been reported.
A total of 23 patients with motor neuron disease (MND), encompassing 17 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 4 of progressive muscular atrophy and 2 of progressive bulbar palsy, was diagnosed in Benghazi, north-eastern Libya, between 1980 and 1985. The male to female ratio was 2.3:1. The average incidence of MND was 0.89/100,000 population/year (0.87 when age and sex-adjusted to the Libyan population). Eighteen patients were alive on the prevalence day, September 15, 1985, which provided a prevalence rate of 3.47/100,000 population (3.42 if adjusted). Age-specific incidence rates were highest in the 50- to 59-year-old age group, 8.14/100,000/year for men and 6.10/100,000/year for women. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 51 years, and the median duration for the 5 dead MND patients after the onset of the disease was 30 months. The median survival time for all MND cases combined was 42 months.
New complaints of patients after poliomyelitis following after decades of a stabilized condition are described by the term postpoliomyelitic syndrome (PPS). They affect at least half the patients after poliomyelitis. The best defined picture from a broad spectrum of new complaints is so-called progressive postpoliomyelitic atrophy (PPMA). The authors review contemporary knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of PPS and PPMA and their possible therapy.
We report a 55-year-old man with a chief complaint of wasting and weakness of the left quadriceps muscle. At age 54, he noticed difficulty in running and weakness in the left thigh, which gradually progressed. On the first admission to our hospital, based on the nerve conduction studies (NCS), the muscle biopsy findings showing neurologenic changes, and no abnormality of spinal MRI, we diagnosed as unilateral quadriceps amyotrophy, which resulted from an atypical form of spinal progressive muscular atrophy. One year later, he showed the bilateral hand weakness, conduction blocks on the right median and ulnar nerves by NCS, and the presence of serum anti-GM 1 antibody. From these findings, Lewis-Sumner syndrome was diagnosed. The therapy of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin moderately improved his symptoms. The clinical symptoms of quadriceps amyotrophy is produced by various disorders including spinal progressive muscular atrophy, spinal extradural arachnoid cyst, rimmed vacuole myopathy, Becker dystrophy, limb-girdle dystrophy, and focal myositis. However, there have been no reports of a case of Lewis-Sumner syndrome. It is important to consider Lewis-Sumner syndrome in the differential diagnosis of quadriceps amyotrophy.
To elucidate autonomic function in spinal muscular atrophy, we evaluated finger cold-induced vasodilatation, sympathetic skin response, and R-R interval variation in 10 patients with spinal muscular atrophy: 7 of type 1, 2 of type 2, and 1 of type 3. Results of finger cold-induced vasodilatation, sympathetic skin response, and R-R interval variation were compared with those of healthy children. Finger cold-induced vasodilatation was abnormal in 6 of 10 patients with spinal muscular atrophy; it was normal in the healthy children. The mean sympathetic skin response latency and amplitude did not differ significantly from those of the healthy children. Amplitudes of sympathetic skin response to sound stimulation were absent or low in all six patients with spinal muscular atrophy. No significant difference was found in the mean R-R interval variation of patients with spinal muscular atrophy and healthy children. Results show that some patients with spinal muscular atrophy have autonomic dysfunction, especially sympathetic nerve hyperactivity, that resembles dysfunction observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.