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Quantitative analysis of the features of fasciculation potentials and their relation with muscle strength in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

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Abstract

This study aimed to quantitatively analyze fasciculation potentials (FPs) and to investigate their relationship with muscle strength in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Fifty-one patients with sporadic ALS or progressive muscular atrophy (25 men, 26 women, mean age of 68 years) underwent needle EMG. We determined the duration, phase number, and amplitude of FPs from three muscles (upper trapezius, biceps brachii, and tibialis anterior) and examined their relations with muscle strength. In total, 878 FPs were analyzed. FP duration displayed a significant negative relation with the strength of all three muscles; the weaker muscles showed longer durations of FPs than the muscles with normal strength. The amplitude and phase number were not related with muscle strength, but there were significant correlations between the duration and amplitude of FPs in the trapezius and tibialis anterior muscles. The longer duration of FPs in muscles with weak strength suggests that the morphological changes of FPs were caused by temporal dispersion through progressively degenerating and/or immature reinnervating motor branches, and were observed uniformly in different muscles along with disease progression.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for ALS and Neuropathy Project from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, 2-6-1 Musashidai, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-0042, Japan

    Kota Bokuda, Toshio Shimizu, Hideki Kimura, Toshihiro Yamazaki, Tsutomu Kamiyama, Akihiro Kawata & Eiji Isozaki

  2. Mental Development Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Kota Bokuda & Masaharu Hayashi

  3. ALS and Neuropathy Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuhiko Watabe

  4. Department of Medical Technology (Neuropathology), Kyorin University Faculty of Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuhiko Watabe

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  1. Kota Bokuda
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  2. Toshio Shimizu
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  4. Toshihiro Yamazaki
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Correspondence to Toshio Shimizu.

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The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest.

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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital.

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All patients provided their informed consent prior to the examination.

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Bokuda, K., Shimizu, T., Kimura, H. et al. Quantitative analysis of the features of fasciculation potentials and their relation with muscle strength in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurol Sci 37, 1939–1945 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2692-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2692-9

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