H-REFLEX RECOVERY CURVE AND RECIPROCAL INHIBITION OF H-REFLEX OF THE UPPER LIMBS IN PATIENTS WITH SPASTICITY SECONDARY TO STROKE

The H-reflex recovery curve of the lower limb is considered a useful t est for the diagnosis of spasticity, and recently the reciprocal inhib ition of the H-reflex has proven to be abnormal in patients affected w ith spasticity. We studied the H-reflex recovery curve and the recipro cal inhibition of the H-reflex in the upper limb of a group of 33 pati ents with different degrees of spasticity secondary to stroke. Results were compared with those of 25 controls. The aim of this study was to investigate if the two tests showed any direct correlation with the d egree of spasticity and, furthermore, with other clinical measures tha t are present in patients with spasticity as part of an upper motoneur on syndrome (i.e., changes in muscle tone, reflexes, force, etc.). The results showed an abnormality of both tests in most patients (decreas e of the three phases of inhibition in the reciprocal inhibition test and increase of the late facilitation part of the H-reflex recovery cu rve), and these abnormalities seem mostly to be related to muscle tone , most important being the degree of correlation between tone and chan ges in abnormality of the H-reflex recovery curve (P < 0.03).