Excitability relationships between lower limb myotatic arcs in spasticity.
AUTOR(ES)
Delwaide, P J
RESUMO
The excitability of a lower limb myotatic reflex arc is modulated by the antecedent activation of another myotatic arc in the same limb; the changes can be represented by heteronymous excitability curves. This work compares heteronymous excitability curves in spastic and normal subjects. Eighteen patients who showed clear signs of pyramidal tract lesions at a chronic stage were studied. Three myotatic arcs of the lower limb (soleus, quadriceps, and short biceps) were activated either by mechanical percussion (T Sol-T Quad-TSBi) or by electrical stimulation of the afferent nerve (H Sol-H Quad). They were used as conditioning and test responses in six different combinations, and the results compared to those obtained previously in normal volunteers. In spastic patients, heteronymous excitability curves are more obviously modified than homonymous ones. The changes are most prominent in the thigh muscles and less marked when the soleus reflex is conditioned by activation of quadriceps and biceps femoris myotatic reflex arcs.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=493108Documentos Relacionados
- Functional relationships between myotatic reflex arcs of the lower limb in man: investigation by excitability curves.
- Excitability of lower limb myotatic reflex arcs under the influence of caloric labyrinthine stimulation. Analysis of the postural effects in man.
- Use of botulinum toxin in stroke patients with severe upper limb spasticity.
- Pathophysiology of spasticity.
- Dorsal rhizotomy for spasticity.