The Significance of F Wave in the Diagnosis of Lumbosacral Radiculopathy |
Tai Ryoon Han, M.D., Jin Ho Kim, M.D. , Seong Jae Lee, M.D. |
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Aju University College of Medicine* |
요천추부 신경근병변에서의 F파의 진단효과 |
한태륜, 김진호, 이성재 |
서울대학교 의과대학 재활의학교실 |
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Abstract |
The F wave has been thought to be useful for diagnosis of proximal neuropathy such as radiculopathy. But its diagnostic sensitivity is not satisfactory so far, and many techniques were designed to improve the sensitivity. Among these, electronic averaging of F waves were introduced as a simple and useful methods that allow one to quickly summate a large number of F waves, yielding a stable and easily reproducible waveform of shortest latency. We studied the significance of F wave in the diagnosis of lumbosacral radiculo-pathy using both conventional and averaging techniques, and compared their sensitivity. 88 patients were studied who had been diagnosed as lumbosacral radiculopathy by clinical, radiological, and electromyographic findings. The results showed that both conventional and averaging F wave study are not sensitive techniques in the diagnosis of lumbosacral radiculopathy. |
Key Words:
F-wave, Radiculopathy, Diagnosis, Electromyography |
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