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Denervation and reinnervation in congenital brachial palsy
Author(s) -
Scarfone Heidi,
McComas Alan J.,
Pape Karen,
Newberry Rebecca
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199905)22:5<600::aid-mus8>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - reinnervation , biceps , brachial plexus , denervation , medicine , palsy , sensory system , anatomy , motor unit , electromyography , sensory nerve , neurophysiology , paralysis , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuroscience , psychology , surgery , pathology , alternative medicine , psychiatry
Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) was shown to be useful in assessing the neurophysiological status of 18 subjects with congenital brachial palsy. This was especially so since conventional M‐wave measurements may give misleading impressions as to the extent of motor axon regeneration. In most subjects the involvement of sensory nerve fibers indicated that the traumatic lesions included postganglionic segments of the fibers, with or without preganglionic damage. In a minority the lesions were purely preganglionic. Digital sensory nerve involvement was more in a mediolateral direction, consistent with greater damage to the uppermost elements in the brachial plexus. In 5 individuals, MUNE and sensory testing showed that there had been trauma to the supposedly unaffected arm. Discrepancies between sensory and motor results suggested that reinnervation of the biceps brachii muscle was greater than that of the intrinsic muscles of the hand. In one subject examined serially, reinnervation of the hand muscles was detected by 10 months and continued in the hypothenar muscles for the next 6 years. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 22: 600–607, 1999