Prolonged tension lag time of knee extensor muscle on twitch contraction in patients with spastic hemiparesis.

Tension lag time on electric stimulation (TLTe), i.e., latency from the stimulus to the rise of tension, and contraction time (CT) of the rectus femoris muscle on twitch contraction were measured on the affected and non-affected sides of eight patients with spastic hemiparesis due to stroke. Both TLTe and CT were significantly longer on the affected side than on the non-affected side, suggesting changes in contractile properties of the spastic muscle.