LONG-TERM FUNCTIONAL RESULTS OF CONTRALATERAL C7 TRANSFER

From 1986 to 1994, 82 patients with brachial plexus root avulsion were operated on using a contralateral C7 nerve-root transfer. Forty-four patients underwent a one-stage procedure in which the distal end of th e ulnar nerve was anastomosed to the contralateral C7 root, and the ot her 38 underwent a two-stage procedure (first phase: C7 root --> ulnar nerve; second phase: ulnar nerve --> recipient nerve). Twenty postope rative cases were followed-up for 2 years. Of them, the ulnar nerve wa s transferred to the musculocutaneous nerve in six cases, with recover y of the biceps up to M3 in four and S3 in five cases; the ulnar nerve was transferred to the median nerve in eight cases, with recovery of the wrist and finger flexors up to M3 in five and S3 in six cases; the ulnar nerve was transferred to the radial nerve in four cases, with r ecovery of the triceps up to M4 in two and S3 in three cases; and the ulnar nerve was transferred to the thoracodorsal nerve in two cases, w ith recovery of the latissimus dorsi to M4 in one case. The total musc le recovery rate (up to M3) of the series was 60 percent, and the sens ory recovery rate (S3) was 78 percent. Outcomes were related to patien t age, operative delay, and whether or not the ulnar nerve was used as a bridge for transfer.