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Further insight on A-wave in acute and chronic demyelinating neuropathies

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Abstract

A-wave is a late motor response that maintains the same characteristics of latency, amplitude and shape with every electrical stimuli at a proper given intensity. The presence of A-waves was reported both in chronic (CIDP) and acute (AIDP) forms of inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. It is attributed to the effect of either sprouting phenomena or ephaptic/ectopic discharge. In the first condition it could be a sign of functional recovery, while in the second it could represent an early indicator of demyelination. Aims of our research were to investigate retrospectively the presence of the A-waves, establishing whether its frequency is more common in CIDP or AIDP. Data from 77 patients, 57 male and 20 female, mean age 60.7 years (SD 15.4), were recovered from clinical records and their neurophysiological tests retrieved for reanalysis. Our results seem to indicate that A-waves can represent an early sign of acute pathology of peripheral nervous system.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all the neurologists of Neuroscience Department, Unit of Neurology, at Pisa University Medical School, who referred their patients and permitted us to examine them electromyographically. We gratefully acknowledge the participation of all subjects, as well as Mr. A. Bruni and Ms. P. Angiolini for their excellent technical assistance. The paper was supported in part by the Italian operating and development MIUR PRIN grant year 2006, n. 2006062332_002.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, Pisa University Medical School, Via Roma, n. 67, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Ferdinando Sartucci, Tommaso Bocci, Davide Borghetti, Giovanni Orlandi, Francesco Manfredonia & Luigi Murri

  2. CNR Institute of Neuroscience, Pisa, Italy

    Ferdinando Sartucci

  3. Department of Neurological Neurosurgical and Behavioral Sciences, Siena University Medical School, Siena, Italy

    Tommaso Bocci, Fabio Giannini & Alessandro Rossi

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  1. Ferdinando Sartucci
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  2. Tommaso Bocci
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  3. Davide Borghetti
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  4. Giovanni Orlandi
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  5. Francesco Manfredonia
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Correspondence to Ferdinando Sartucci.

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Sartucci, F., Bocci, T., Borghetti, D. et al. Further insight on A-wave in acute and chronic demyelinating neuropathies. Neurol Sci 31, 609–616 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0354-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0354-x

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