[Parvovirus B19 infection revealed by acute renal insufficiency].

Human adult Parvovirus B19 infection is a well known disease most frequently seen in haematology and cancerology. To our knowledge, however, renal involvement in this context has never been reported. A case of severe infection caused by this virus is reported, where multiple organ involvement is associated with acute renal failure.

[Motor nerve conduction velocity in early forms of infantile spinal amyotrophy. Diagnostic problems].

The conduction velocity of the ulnar, median and peroneal nerves was studied in 21 patients with a severe form of spinal muscular atrophy. They were slower than normal in 16 cases, particularly when the median nerve was studied. The diagnosis criteria of spinal muscular atrophy are discussed according to these data.

[Somatosensory evoked potentials and Hoffmann reflex in acute spinal cord lesions; physiopathological and prognostic aspects].

Twenty-four patients with recent and acute spinal cord lesions were examined. The somatosensory cerebral evoked potential (SEP) following stimulation of the peroneus communis nerve tested spinal conduction, whereas the H reflex showed spinal excitability belowe the lesion. After complete spinal cord section, the SEP was always abolished and the H reflex was absent in most cases tested in the first 24 hours.

Motor conduction velocity and the Hoffman reflex in diabetes.

The motor conduction velocity (MCV) and various parameters of the Hoffman reflex were studied in 55 diabetics compared to a control population of the same age. In the diabetics there were statistically significant alterations of the MCV, the Hmax/Mmax ratio and the H index, which are closely connected. These changes were more precise when there were clinical signs of neuropathy (absence of the Achilles reflex) but they still existed in the absence of signs.