[Vasomotor disorders of the hand and carpal tunnel syndrome].

Clinical electrophysiological and chronothermodynamic examinations were performed on 71 patients with paresthesiae and pain of the hands. In 35 patients, the electromyographic examination confirmed the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome on the basis of clear signs of chronic compression of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel. In the other 36 patients, the electro-physiological findings were normal.

[Cervical myelopathy disclosing dissection of the extracranial vertebral artery].

A case of medullary ischaemic accident in C5 symptomatic of extracranial vertebral artery dissection is reported. The facilitating factors of vertebral artery dissection are discussed.

[Carpal tunnel syndrome. Can it still be a controversial topic?].

The authors studied two aspects of the carpal tunnel syndrome. As far as the diagnosis is concerned, clinical signs and provocative manoeuvres compared to the accepted standard of electrophysiological studies proved to be insufficient to settle a surgical indication in 85 carpal tunnel syndromes. When surgery is needed, post-operative course is frequently bothered by pillar pain and decreased strength postponing return to manual activities.

[Role of the electrophysiologic examination in the diagnosis of Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome].

An autosomal recessive disorder, abetalipoproteinemia or Bassen-Kornzweig disease, concerning two sisters are described. This disorder, clinically similar to Friedreich ataxia, should be examined by electrophysiological and laboratory procedures because of the possibility of treatment by high doses of vitamin A and E. The routine electrophysiological examination of the two sisters revealed a degenerative spinocerebellar and peripheral nervous process which confirmed the damage of large myelinated fibers, as reported in the literature: neurogenic muscular atrophy of distal muscles, polyphasic motor unit potentials, moderately decrease of lower motor and sensory nerve conduction rates, and reduced amplitude of evoked responses in sensory nerves and muscles.