Premium
Abstracts of the 8th Meeting of the Italian Peripheral Nerve Study Group: 29
Author(s) -
Cimini N,
Ferracci F,
Mondardini V,
Squintani G,
Moretto G
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of the peripheral nervous system
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1529-8027
pISSN - 1085-9489
DOI - 10.1046/j.1529-8027.2003.00029.x
Subject(s) - lower motor neuron , medicine , upper motor neuron , denervation , tetraplegia , reflex , poliomyelitis , motor neuron , encephalitis , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , surgery , anesthesia , anatomy , spinal cord , pediatrics , disease , virus , spinal cord injury , virology , psychiatry
Tick‐born encephalitis (TBE) is caused by a Flavivirus infection after Ixodes Ricinus bite. Among the 62 cases of TBE virus infection observed in the Belluno General Hospital since January 1994, 4 patients (6,6%) presented also signs of lower motor neuron involvement. One patient exhibited severe tetraplegia with respiratory failure. The clinical picture was monomelic in the remaining 3 patients. In all patients reflexes were absent in the affected limbs; sensations were preserved. Needle EMG revealed signs of acute denervation, prominent in proximal muscles. Motor and sensory conduction velocities were within normal limits. The outcome was good in the three patients with monoparesis who recovered normal muscle strength. The tetraplegic patient is still wheel‐chair bound. Polio‐like syndromes due to TBE virus infection have been described either in anecdotal reports or in small series of patients from continental Europe. The pathophysiology of the motor neuron damage is unknown.