Abstract

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 pre-ganglionic 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.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Hemmi S, Kurokawa K, Nagai T, Izawa N, Murakami T, Sunada Y

Institution

Department of Neurology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan.

Source

Rinshō shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 52:6 2012 pg 436-8

MeSH

Acute Disease
Adult
Brachial Plexus
Brachial Plexus Neuropathies
Electromyography
Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory
Hemiplegia
Humans
Male
Prednisone
Treatment Outcome
Upper Extremity

Pub Type(s)

Case Reports
Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22790808