The calcium channel blocker verapamil in hypokalemic periodic paralysis

✍ Scribed by Thera P. Links; Edo P.J. Arnoldus; Axel R. Wintzen; Johannes van der Hoeven; J.J. Gerritsen; H.C.R. Brandenburg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 83 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-639X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199811)21:11<1564::aid-mus38>3.0.co;2-y

✦ Synopsis

pooled values of individual jitter were compared between study and control groups. SFEMG examination in radiculopathy patients did not show a definite jitter abnormality in any individual patient. Three patients had borderline increases of mean MCD, but these were within the normal limit values of Trontelj et al. 4 According to Stålberg, the severity of jitter and blocking abnormality gives information about the rate of denervation-reinnervation process. 2 In cases of fast progression, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, jitter is increased and blocking is commonly seen. 2 Our results show that this process is slow in radiculopathies, as supported by the observation that the patients with lesser symptom duration demonstrate significantly increased individual jitter.

Unlike other axonal disorders, jitter increase was not prominent in radiculopathy. This may be explained by the sole involvement of the posterior primary ramus in radiculopathy, where myotomal overlap makes localization inaccurate. 5 Forty-five percent of our patients had only paraspinal abnormalities. However, our patients with solely anterior primary ramus involvement did not show a significant increased abnormality in individual jitter. The method employed may also play a role, because, in myasthenia gravis stimulation SFEMG yielded fewer abnormalities than the voluntary activation method. 1 On the other hand, the older age of our affected subjects compared with controls does not explain the increased jitter, because jitter does not increase with age in stimulation SFEMG. 3