Conduction velocity along muscle fibers in situ in myasthenia gravis.
The muscle fiber conduction velocity (MFCV) was tested distally in the short head of the biceps brachii muscle in 4 patients with ocular and 16 cases with generalized Myasthenia Gravis. The mean MFCV was decreased in 6 cases with generalized form of the disease, 2 of them with short evolution of the symptoms and without drugs therapy. The overall MFCV of 644 fibers in generalized MG was significantly decreased (p < 0.02) related to the results of controls. The MFCV is an index of the muscle fiber size. Muscle fiber atrophy in MG may be due to functional denervation in patients without drugs therapy or to motor neuropathy caused by drugs or associated with thymoma.
Cruz Martínez
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Hospital la Luz, Madrid, Spain.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009431:Neural Conduction