BACKGROUND Pulmonary involvement is frequently observed in patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophy and occurs early in the disease. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of pulmonary dysfunction; the type of dysfunction; and any correlation between patient age, disease duration, or limb weakness and lung or respiratory muscle dysfunction. METHODS Twenty patients with stri...

STUDY DESIGN Consecutive case series of patients with C6 and C7 radiculopathies. OBJECTIVES To explore the clinical utility and reliability of manual muscle testing of forearm pronation strength in C6 and C7 radiculopathies. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA EMG evidence of denervation of the pronator teres was the most common finding in C6 radiculopathies, and frequently present in C7 radiculopat...

Poststroke dorsiflexor weakness and paretic limb foot drop increase the risk of stumbling and falling and decrease overall functional mobility. It is of interest whether dorsiflexor muscle weakness is primarily neurological in origin or whether morphological differences also contribute to the impairment. Ten poststroke hemiparetic individuals were imaged bilaterally using noninvasive medical im...

Comment Evidence of thyroid autoimmunity has often been noted in patients who develop hypothyroidism while receiving amiodarone.2 Between 30% and 50% of patients who have hypothyroidism induced by amiodarone iodine have antithyroid antibodies.' 2 Antithyroid antibodies are less common in patients who have hyperthyroidism induced by amiodarone iodine. Monteiro et al reported the development of a...

Neuromuscular abnormalities culminating in skeletal-muscle weakness occur very commonly in critically ill patients. Intensive-care-unit (ICU) acquired neuromuscular abnormalities are typically divided into 2 discrete classes: polyneuropathy and myopathy. However, it is likely that these 2 entities commonly coexist, with myopathy being the most common cause of weakness. Major risk factors for IC...

38 Muscle weakness associated with aging implicates central neural degeneration. However, role of 39 the primary motor cortex (M1) is poorly understood despite evidence that gains in strength in younger 40 adults are associated with its adaptations. We investigated whether weakness of biceps brachii in aging 41 analogously relates to processes in M1. We enrolled 20 young (22.6±0.87 years) and 2...