ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES AFTER SEVERANCE OF THE C7 NERVE ROOT

Since 1986, contralateral C7 root transfer has been used to treat brac hial plexus root avulsions in our hospital. We performed post-operativ e electrophysiological examinations of the healthy-side limb in the fi rst 27 patients. Electromyography and nerve conduction studies on the healthy side demonstrated mild abnormalities only of individual limb m uscles in a few cases. These changes mostly recovered during the follo w-up period. In the measurement of radial nerve motor conduction, medi an nerve sensory conduction and somato-sensory evoked potentials, we f ound that the amplitude of the median nerve sensory conduction alone w as slightly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The resul ts showed that severance of C7 caused no permanent functional damage t o the upper limb.