Free functional musculocutaneous transfer: electrophysiological studies.
Transplanted autogenous muscles were electrophysiologically studied in 2 patients with forearm crush injury. Only fibrillation action potentials and positive sharp waves were seen at 1 month after the operation. Low-amplitude and short-duration muscular unit potentials (MUPs) appeared at 3 months and high-amplitude, long-duration and polyphasic MUPs were frequently seen at 6-7 months after the transplantation. The distal latencies of the evoked motor responses were gradually shortened from time to time and eventually became normal at about 1 year after the grafting. The mean consecutive difference became normal at about 6 months after the normalization of the distal latencies. We conclude that the motor endplate is functionally completed at about half a year after the completion of the myelination of the grafted nerve.
Ugawa
Y
Y
Department of Neurology, Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Tokyo.
Sakuta
M
M
Okutsu
I
I
Kuroshima
N
N
Ninomiya
S
S
D000200:Action Potentials; D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005543:Forearm Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009045:Motor Endplate / Q000502:physiology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D009431:Neural Conduction; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors