Motor Unit Number Estimation in Thenar Muscles of the Hemiplegic Patients

Motor unit number estimation(MUNE) was performed in the thenar muscles of 22 hemiplegic patients without a peripheral nerve lesion using the statistical method. The studies were done bilaterally in the affected and unaffected sides. The distal latency and conduction velocity of median nerve in the affected side were not different from those in the unaffected side. But the amplitude and area of the compound muscle action potential in the affected side were smaller than those in the unaffected side. Motor unit numbers in the affected side decreased than those of the unaffected side, especially in the first 6 months after the onset of hemiplegia. And the motor unit numbers in the affected side decreased as the muscle strength decreased. Single motor unit potential(SMUP) area in the affected side increased after 1 year from the onset of hemiplegia. The estimation of the number of motor units in the thenar muscles of hemiplegic patients could be an indicator for predicting recovery of the muscle power in hemiplegia.

A Case Report of Cobb's Syndrome

Cobb's syndrome, or cutaneomeningospinal angiomatosis, is a combination of the vascular skin nevus and angioma in the spinal cord within a corresponding segment or two to the dermatoms involved. A 15 year old girl showed the portwine nevus at T2-T11 dermatomes and multilevel spinal angioma at C7-L3 levels. She had suffered from a slowly progressive weakness of both lower extremities. Motor weakness of lower extremities improved after the combined rehabilitation management and radiation therapy for 4 months. We report the typical manifestations of Cobb's syndrome in a 15 year old girl with the brief review of literatures.

The Clinical and Electrophysiological Study of the Suprascapular Nerve Palsy

The medical records of twenty-one patients with suprascapular nerve palsy were reviewed retrospectively. Nine patients had isolated suprascapular nerve lesions and twelve patients accompanied axillary nerve lesions. In trauma cases, combined nerve lesions were common and severe. In three cases isolated suprascapular nerve lesions were noted spontaneously. Isolated infraspinatus muscle lesions were noted in four cases which were due to compressions of suprascapular nerves at the spinoglenoid notch, and in one case from ganglionic cyst was diagnosed by ultrasonography. At initial examination, three patients showed complete and eighteen patients showed incomplete lesion. Eight patients with incomplete lesion and one patient with complete lesion were followed up. Seven patients with incomplete lesion showed regeneration between 1-7 months after injury. Therefore electrodiagnostic study is necessary to evaluate severity and level of nerve lesion and regeneration.