To study the involvement of motor and sensory pathways in neurolathyrism, 19 patients with lathyrism from Unnao, India, where lathyrism is endemic, were studied. The mean age of the patients at the time of the onset of illness was 35.8 (range 18-70) years. The mean duration of illness was 15.6 (range 2-30) years. The clinical picture comprised walking difficulty due to stiffness and mild weakne...

)ften difficult. Often, clinical tésting of the sensory :uflctions is neither reliable nor helpful in the determination. Theoretically, predominant proximal . veakness, neck flexor weakness, and facial weakness occur more often in patients with myopathy. Dn needle electromyography, low amplitudes and short duration of the motor unit potentials suggest myopathy. Normal sensory nerve action poten...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease characterized by upper and lower motor neuron damage. Mutations of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1) account for 20% of familial ALS (FALS). We report a unique clinicogenotype of a Japanese family with a novel SOD 1 mutation. A 37-year-old woman (the proband) noticed muscle weakness in the left lower limb. Her mother had develope...

OBJECTIVE Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) is characterized by motor weakness, sensory changes, and autonomic dysfunction. However, diagnosis of ATM is based on early-stage clinical features only (and clarification of the cause of disease), which are difficult for emergency department (ED) physicians owing to low incidence rates. We performed retrospective analysis of ATM in order to provide cli...

The herpes zoster virus is a rare but potential cause of acute motor weakness. This article describes 2 patients with drop foot secondary to an infection of varicella zoster who were incorrectly referred to an orthopedic clinic from their general practitioners. The first patient was a 74-year-old man who presented with weakness in the right foot and a vesicular rash. The pattern of disease supp...

• duchenne muscular dystrophy o onset 3 to 5 yrs o clinical § weakness o distribution § proximal > distal § symmetric § legs & arms § most involved muscles: adductor magnus in legs § relatively spared muscles: gracilis & sartorius o course § reduced motor function by 2 to 3 years § steady decline in strength: after 6 to 11 years o gowers sign: standing up with the aid of hands pushing on knees ...

BACKGROUND Guillain-Barriota syndrome (GBS) is an acute neurological illness affecting the peripheral nervous system causing significant morbidity. The syndrome has been classified electrophysiologically into demyelinating and axonal forms. The clinical features of the axonal variant (acute motor axonal neuropathy--AMAN) are not well characterized, particularly in the Indian context. OBJECTIV...

We tested the hypothesis that the nervous system, and the cortex in particular, is a critical determinant of muscle strength/weakness and that a high level of corticospinal inhibition is an important neurophysiological factor regulating force generation. A group of healthy individuals underwent 4 wk of wrist-hand immobilization to induce weakness. Another group also underwent 4 wk of immobiliza...

BACKGROUND Reports of motor polyneuropathies in young cats are scarce. Further, in-depth electrophysiologic evaluation to confirm a motor polyneuropathy in young cats of various breeds other than 2 Bengal cats is lacking. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES To confirm a motor polyneuropathy in young cats of various breeds. ANIMALS Five young cats with heterogenous chronic or relapsing episodes of weaknes...