title: Electrodiagnosis reliability in the diagnosis of infant botulism.
abstract: Infant botulism is confirmed by isolation of Clostridium botulinum from stool culture or by toxin assay. Although electrodiagnosis has been described as a diagnostic tool in infant botulism, our 11-year review of toxin-confirmed cases suggests that electrodiagnosis is not a reliable tool. In the case report presented, results of electrodiagnosis were negative but enema effluent contained adequate concentrations of organism and toxin to confirm the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle 98105.
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Astley
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Mendelman
mesh_terms: D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000032:analysis; D001906:Botulism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004568:Electrodiagnosis; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001905:Botulinum Toxins