DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Nerve conduction studies: basic principal and clinical usefulness

  • Ahn, Suk-Won (Department of Neurology, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine) ;
  • Yoon, Byung-Nam (Department of Neurology, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kim, Jee-Eun (Department of Neurology, Seoul Medical Center) ;
  • Seok, Jin Myoung (Department of Neurology, Soonchunhyang University Hospital Cheonan, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kim, Kwang-Kuk (Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine) ;
  • Lim, Young Min (Department of Neurology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine) ;
  • Kwon, Ki-Han (Department of Neurology, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine) ;
  • Park, Kee Duk (Department of Neurology, Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine) ;
  • Suh, Bum Chun (Department of Neurology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine) ;
  • Korean Society of Clinical Neurophysiology Education Committee (Korean Society of Clinical Neurophysiology)
  • Received : 2018.06.27
  • Accepted : 2018.07.04
  • Published : 2018.07.31

Abstract

Nerve conduction study (NCS) is an electrophysiological tool to assess the overall function of cranial and peripheral nervous system, therefore NCS has been diagnostically helpful in the identification and characterization of disorders involving nerve roots, peripheral nerves, muscle and neuromuscular junction, and are frequently accompanied by a needle Electromyography. Furthermore, NCS could provide valuable quantitative and qualitative results into neuromuscular function. Usually, motor, sensory, or mixed nerve studies can be performed with using NCS, stimulating the nerves with the recording electrodes placed over a distal muscle, a cutaneous sensory nerve, or the entire mixed nerve, respectively. And these findings of motor, sensory, and mixed nerve studies often show different and distinct patterns of specific abnormalities indicating the neuromuscular disorders. The purpose of this special article is to review the neurophysiologic usefulness of NCS, to outline the technical factors associated with the performance of NCS, and to demonstrate characteristic NCS changes in the setting of various neuromuscular conditions.

Keywords

References

  1. Dumitru D, Amato A, Zwart M. Electrodiagnostic medicine. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 2002;191-208.
  2. Barry DT. AAEM minimonograph #36: basic concepts of electricity and electronics in clinical electromyography. Muscle Nerve 1991;14;937-946. https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.880141003
  3. Binnie C, Cooper R, Mauguiere F, Fowler C, Prior P. Clinical neurophysiology Vol 1 & 2. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004.
  4. Delisa JA, Lee HJ, Baran EM, Lai KS. Manual of nerve conduction velocity and clinical neurophysiology. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Raven Press, 1994.
  5. Dorfman LJ. The distribution of conduction velocities (DCV) in peripheral nerves: a review. Muscle Nerve 1984;7:2-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.880070103
  6. Donofrio PD, Albers JW. AAEM minimonograph #34: polyneuropathy: classification by nerve conduction studies and electromyography. Muscle Nerve 1990;13:889-903. https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.880131002
  7. Kimura J. Facts, fallacies, and fancies of nerve conduction studies: twenty-first annual Edward H. Lambert Lecture. Muscle Nerve 1997;20:777-787. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4598(199707)20:7<777::AID-MUS1>3.0.CO;2-4
  8. Brown WF. The physiological and technical basis of electromyography. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1984;95-168.
  9. Mallik A, Weir AI. Nerve conduction studies: essentials and pitfalls in practice. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2005;76 Suppl 2:ii23-ii31.
  10. Oh SJ. Principles of clinical electromyography case studies. 1st ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998;78-120.
  11. Zwarts MJ, Guecher A. The relation between conduction velocity and axonal length. Muscle Nerve 1995;18:1244-1249. https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.880181105

Cited by

  1. Peripheral Nerve Regeneration Using a Nerve Conduit with Olfactory Ensheathing Cells in a Rat Model vol.18, pp.3, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-020-00326-9