1982 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 67-72
A 32-year-old man developed motor and sensory disturbances of the limbs accompanied by albuminocytologic dissociation in CSF and high measles antibody titer in serum. Frequent painful muscle cramps which are rare in acute polyradiculoneuropathy occurred in the convalescent stage. Ischemic exercise of the foerarm muscles resulted in normal elevation of serum lactic acid. Nerve conduction velocity was decreased in the lower limbs, namely 39.3 m/sec and 36.5 m/sec in the tibial nerve MCV and sural nerve SCV, respectively. EMG revealed neurogenic pattern. Superficial EMG manifested abnormal continuous discharges on repetitive stimulation of the left ulnar nerve. Although muscle cramps occurred even after a pharmacological block of the ulnar nerve, there was a possibility remained that the block itself might be insufficient. Carbamazepine showed a slight effect in the reduction of muscle cramps. Muscle cramps are well known in McArdle's disease, stiff-man syndrome, Satoyoshi's disease, syndrome of continuous muscle fiber activity (Isaacs) and tetany. But our case is different from these disorders. Since this rare phenomenon was observed only in the period of recovery from acute polyradiculoneuropathy, it was suggested that some abnormalities related to the process of reinnervation caused an overactivity of α-motoneuron.
