title: Changes in macro electromyography over time in patients with a history of polio: a comparison of 2 muscles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether changes over time are different in a weight-bearing leg muscle than in a less heavily used arm muscle.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University hospital laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three patients with a history of poliomyelitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two investigations were performed 5 years apart, using macro electromyography and the patients' own assessments of symptoms in the tibial anterior and the biceps brachii muscles. Test-retest of macro electromyography was performed in controls and in patients with old polio.
  
  
  METHODS
  Macro motor unit potential (MUP) and symptoms in the tibial anterior and biceps brachii over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The macro MUP amplitude increased by 24% (P<.05) in the tibial anterior but was unchanged in the biceps brachii muscle.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An increase in the macro MUP amplitude of the tibial anterior muscle, but not of the biceps brachii, most likely indicates a more pronounced ongoing denervation-reinnervation process over time in the tibial anterior. This difference could be activity dependent, but other factors cannot be excluded.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Uppsala University Hospital, ing 85, 3 tr., S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. arne.sandburg@akademiska.se
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandberg
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stålberg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies