title: Nerve conduction studies in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: We performed a controlled study in search of possible differences in nerve conduction parameters in 52 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 77 healthy controls. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) including recordings of motor and sensory amplitudes, the nerve conduction velocities and the distal latencies were investigated in both groups. The mean summed amplitude of compound muscle action potentials was 30.3 mV (SD = 7.9) in the patients compared with 35.9 mV (SD = 6.8) in the controls (p = 0.0001). Contrary to this, the mean values for motor distal latency was 14.3 msec (SD = 2.0) in the patients and 15.9 msec (SD = 1.8) in the controls (p = 0.0001). Decreased values for nerve conduction studies found in the patients may indicate impaired nerve functions in RA. However, the summed motor and sensory distal conduction were in fact better in the patient group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Bekkelund
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Torbergsen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Omdal
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Husby
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Mellgren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D011239:Prednisolone