Key result
MUNIX indicated a 25% reduction of motor neurons in prior polio patients, whereas macro EMG indicated a 60% loss, suggesting the two methods evaluate different motor unit populations.
Why the study?
How do MUNIX and macro EMG compare in characterizing motor unit properties in the tibialis anterior muscle of prior polio patients?
Observational (n=33)
How do MUNIX and macro EMG compare in characterizing motor unit properties in the tibialis anterior muscle of prior polio patients?
Absolute Event Rate: 25% vs 60%
MUNIX is a reproducible noninvasive method for characterizing motor units in large muscles, though it may reflect different motor unit populations compared to macro EMG in prior polio patients.
Discrepant motor unit estimates between MUNIX and macro EMG warrant caution in post-polio assessment; leaves open optimal method for longitudinal quantification.
Our objective was to establish the usefulness of the noninvasive method of the motor unit number index (MUNIX) in a large muscle and to study how macro electromyography (EMG) and MUNIX complement each other in describing the motor units (MUs) in prior polio. MUNIX and macro EMG were performed in 48 tibialis anterior muscles in 33 prior polio patients. In addition, the reproducibility of MUNIX was investigated. It is shown that MUNIX can be used to characterize MUs with high reproducibility, even in a large muscle. As judged by MUNIX values, the patients had a 25% reduction of motor neurons, whereas the macro EMG indicated a loss of 60% of the neurons. Macro EMG showed more pronounced changes compared with control material than the MUNIX. One of the reasons for this finding may be the difference in MU populations studied with the two methods.
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Sandberg et al. (2011) conducted an observational in prior polio (n=33). Motor unit number index (MUNIX) vs. Macro electromyography (EMG) was evaluated on Reduction of motor neurons. MUNIX indicated a 25% reduction of motor neurons in prior polio patients, whereas macro EMG indicated a 60% loss, suggesting the two methods evaluate different motor unit populations.
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