Motor unit estimation in a muscle supplied by the radial nerve.
The number of motor units in a muscle, the abductor pollicis longus (APL), supplied by the radial nerve was estimated. In 40 APL muscles of control subjects, the mean number of motor units was found to be 421 +/- 99 (SD). Ten patients underwent conventional EMG examination to confirm the clinical suspicion of denervation in radial nerve territory. All presented a significant reduction in the number of motor units in the APL muscle. These results show that this method is useful in the evaluation of muscles supplied by the radial nerve.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000503:physiopathology; D002452:Cell Count; D003714:Denervation; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000294:innervation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D011826:Radial Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000503:physiopathology