1. Stimulus–response curve of human motor nerves: Multicenter assessment of various indexes
- Author
-
Boërio, D., Hogrel, J.-Y., Lefaucheur, J.-P., Wang, F.C., Verschueren, A., Pouget, J., Carrera, E., and Kuntzer, T.
- Subjects
- *
NERVES , *STIMULUS intensity , *WRIST , *REFLEXES - Abstract
Summary: The value of various indexes to characterize the stimulus–response curve of human motor nerves was assessed in 40 healthy subjects recruited from four European centers of investigation (Créteil, Lausanne, Liège, Marseille). Stimulus–response curves were established by stimulating the right median and ulnar motor nerves at the wrist, with stimulus durations of 0.05 and 0.5ms. The following parameters were studied: the threshold intensity of stimulation to obtain 10% (I 10), 50% (I 50), and 90% (I 90) of the maximal compound muscle action potential, the ratios I 10/I 50, I 90/I 50, (I 90 − I 10)/I 10, (I 90 − I 50)/I 50, and (I 50 − I 10)/I 10, and the slopes of the stimulus–response curves with or without normalization to I 50. For each parameter, within-center variability and reproducibility (in a test–retest study) were assessed and between-center comparisons were made. For most of the parameters, the results varied significantly within and between the centers. Within the centers, only the ratios I 10/I 50 and I 90/I 50 were found constant and reproducible. Between the centers, the absolute intensity thresholds (I 10, I 50, I 90) and the ratio I 90/I 50 did not show significant differences at stimulus duration of 0.5ms, whatever the stimulated nerve. The reduced variability and good reproducibility of the ratios I 10/I 50 and I 90/I 50 open perspectives in neurophysiological practice for the use of these indexes of the stimulus–response curve, a rapid and noninvasive test. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF