臨床神経学

Brief Clinical Note

Acute fulminant brachial plexopathy with good recovery: Electrophysiological features

Shoji Hemmi, M.D., Katsumi Kurokawa, M.D., Taiji Nagai, M.D., Nana Izawa, M.D., Tatsufumi Murakami, M.D. and Yoshihide Sunada, M.D.

Corresponding author: Department of Neurology, Kawasaki Medical School〔577 Matsushima, Kurashiki, Okayama, 701―0192 Japan〕
Department of Neurology, Kawasaki Medical School

We report a case of fulminant brachial plexopathy with radicular involvement. A 25-year-old man developed acute total monoplegia in the left upper limb. Needle electromyography showed extensive acute denervation in the C5-T1 spinal segments, and peripheral sensory nerve conduction was normal, mimicking a preganglionic lesion. However, left median somatosensory evoked potentials revealed abnormal Erb's point potential, suggesting a brachial plexus lesion. Corticosteroid treatment resulted in good recovery. These findings suggest that the primary pathophysiology was conduction block and this can explain the good clinical recovery in this patient.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (237K)

(臨床神経, 52:436−438, 2012)
key words:brachial plexopathy, cervical radiculopathy, conduction block, sensory nerve action potential, somatosensory evoked potentials

(受付日:2011年11月21日)