The impact of spasticity on diaphragm contraction: Electrophysiological assessment

Publication date: August 2018
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 129, Issue 8
Author(s): Bruno Miranda, Susana Pinto, Mamede de Carvalho
ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate diaphragm spasticity by measuring diaphragm compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) to phrenic nerve stimulation at end-expiration (exp) and at full-inspiration (insp) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) and aged-matched controls. We also compared diaphragmatic responses of ALS patients with and without spasticity.MethodsDiaphragm CMAPs were recorded from 111 ALS patients, 15 PLS patients and 36 controls. Percentage of change (%insp-exp) was calculated for each neurophysiological measure. Clinical evaluation included: functional ALS scale, spasticity and forced vital capacity.ResultsDiaphragmatic exp and insp CMAPs in ALS patients had longer latency, lower peak-to-peak amplitude and smaller negative-peak area (all p < 0.05). ANCOVA analysis for %insp-exp differences across groups, taking into account end-expiration values, revealed a group effect for peak-to-peak amplitude (all p < 0.001) and negative-peak area (all p < 0.01). For both measures, the change in ALS and PLS patients was smaller than controls (all p < 0.05). Among ALS patients, those without spasticity (74%) had longer latency, lower peak-to-peak amplitude and smaller negative-peak area (all p < 0.05).ConclusionsUpper motor neuron involvement changes physiological variability of diaphragmatic CMAPs, likely due to decreased muscle shortening and mobility.SignificanceSpasticity impacts on diaphragm electrophysiology, with potential implications in respiratory function.



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High voltage 14 Hz hippocampal discharges on stereotactic EEG underlying 14&6 Hz positive bursts on scalp EEG

Publication date: Available online 2 June 2018
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology
Author(s): Puneet Jain, Shatha Shafi, Ayako Ochi, Elizabeth Donner, Rohit Sharma, George Ibrahim, James Drake, Hiroshi Otsubo




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Effect of a distal weight-bearing implant on visual analog scale scores in 23 transfemoral amputees

The objective of this interrupted time series clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of a distal weight-bearing implant on well-being in patients with transfemoral amputations using the visual analog scale (VAS). A total of 29 patients from five hospitals with previous transfemoral amputations were surgically implanted with an osseoanchored implant with a distal spacer that allows a direct load on the residuum over the distal surface of the socket. Patients were followed for a 14-month period and assessed presurgically and postsurgically using the VAS. The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the differences between variables. VAS mean scores improved significantly after intervention. Significant and clinically meaningful improvements in the VAS score suggest overall improvement in well-being for patients after receiving a distal weight-bearing implant. Correspondence to María Morales-Suarez-Varela, MD, PhD, Unit of Public Health and Environmental Care, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Valencia, Avda. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjasot, Valencia, Spain Tel: +34 963 544 951; fax: +34 963 544 954; e-mail: maria.m.morales@uv.es Received November 13, 2017 Accepted April 22, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Complexity, Variation, and the Ever-moving Cheese

No abstract available

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The absence of the pCO2 effect on dissolved 134Cs uptake in select marine organisms

Publication date: December 2018
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 192
Author(s): Thomas Lacoue-Labarthe, François Oberhänsli, Jean-Louis Teyssié, Marc Metian
Ocean acidification have been shown to not affect the capacity of bivalves to bioaccumulation ¹³⁴Cs in their tissue; but as this was studied on only one species to date. There is therefore a need to verify if this holds true for other bivalve species or other marine invertebrates. The present short communication confirms that in the scallop Mimachlamys varia and the prawn Penaeus japonicus, two species that supposedly have a record to preferentially concentrates this radionuclide, that bioconcentration of ¹³⁴Cs was shown not to be influenced by a decreasing pH (and thereby increasing seawater pCO2). Although the dissolved ¹³⁴Cs was taken up in a similar manner under different pH values (8.1, 7.8, and 7.5) in both species, being described by a saturation state equilibrium model, the species displayed different bioconcentration capacities of ¹³⁴Cs: CFss in the prawns was approximately 10-fold higher than in scallops. Such results suggest that the Cs bioconcentration capacity are mainly dependent of the taxa and that uptake processes are independent the physiological ones involved in the biological responses of prawns and scallops to ocean acidification.



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