title: An electrophysiological study of the intermediate syndrome of organophosphate poisoning.
abstract: Acute organophosphate (OP) poisoning is commonly seen in emergency medicine. Neurologists must be alert to detect neuromuscular transmission failure and other neurological complications that follow OP poisoning. We report a 37-year-old male with acute OP poisoning to emphasize the electrophysiological abnormalities during the intermediate syndrome (IMS). Motor nerve conduction studies revealed that a single nerve stimulation evoked a repetitive compound muscle action potential, whereas repetitive nerve stimulation resulted in a combination of a decrement-increment pattern and a repetitive fade response. Thus, electrophysiological studies can be used to monitor patients with IMS, and these test results correlate well with clinical findings in acute OP poisoning.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Rua General Carneiro 181, Curitiba PR 80060-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo José
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lorenzoni
authors.forename: Juliano
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gasparetto
authors.forename: Cláudia Suemi Kamoi
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: Rosana Herminia
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scola
authors.forename: Lineu César
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Werneck
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004568:Electrodiagnosis / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D062025:Organophosphate Poisoning