This article reviews the use of electrodiagnostic testing in disorders of neuromuscular transmission and discusses the differences between various presynaptic and postsynaptic disorders. Attention is paid to quality control issues that influence the sensitivity of repetitive nerve stimulation and single fiber electromyography. Electrodiagnostic testing, when used as an extension of the clinicia...

This article reviews the usefulness of the electrodiagnostic examination in patients who have suspected cervical and lumbosacral radiculopathy. This study can verify the presence and severity of radiculopathy, determine which levels are involved, and provide an electrodiagnostic correlate to imaging abnormalities. A practical approach for conducting the nerve conduction portion and needle elect...

Duchenne de Boulogne was among the first to investigate neuromuscular diseases. He stimulated muscle and nerve with moistened surface electrodes, thereby avoiding tissue necrosis. Technique and self-designed equipment are discussed in his first major work de l'électrisation localisée. During his 30 years of practice, he examined several hundred patients with poliomyelitis. With electrodiagnosti...

Electrodiagnostic methods, especially needle EMG plays an important role for the ALS diagnosis. Existing diagnostic criteria such as revised El Escorial criteria (R-EEC) and Awaji algorithm have a drawback of low sensitivity. Our study revealed that the percentage of patients classified as confirmed ALS, i.e. clinically probable (laboratory supported) or higher, was 43% using the R-EEC and 37% ...

Electrodiagnostic testing has proved useful in helping to establish the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by eliminating possible disease mimics and by demonstrating abnormalities in body areas that are clinically unaffected. Electrodiagnosis begins with an understanding of the clinical features of the disease, because clinical correlation is essential. To improve the sensitivity of th...

A 56-year-old woman developed insidiously progressive, painless weakness of her left hand. Clinical and electrodiagnostic abnormalities were limited to the motor function of the hand, with the hypothenar less affected than more distal ulnar muscles. Compression of the distal ulnar nerve by a ganglionic cyst was surgically relieved and there was postoperative improvement. The electrodiagnosis of...

This article reviews the epidemiology and classification of traumatic peripheral nerve injuries, the effects of these injuries on nerve and muscle, and how electrodiagnosis is used to help classify the injury. Mechanisms of recovery are also reviewed. Motor and sensory nerve conduction studies, needle electromyography, and other electrophysiological methods are particularly useful for localizin...