Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (30)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Urban, P. P.
Right arrow Articles by Hopf, H. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Urban, P. P.
Right arrow Articles by Hopf, H. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Brain, Vol 121, Issue 6 1099-1108, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press

ARTICLES

Corticobulbar tract involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A transcranial magnetic stimulation study

PP Urban, T Vogt and HC Hopf
Department of Neurology, University of Mainz, Germany.

We investigated corticobulbar tract function by recording from the tongue and orofacial muscles and using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in 30 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in order to improve the diagnostic yield in the detection of subclinical upper motor neuron (UMN) dysfunction. A UMN lesion was assumed when the peripheral conduction time and amplitude of the M-wave were within normal range and either the response to cortical stimulation was absent, or the central conduction time was delayed (> mean + 2.5 SD). Only two patients showed clinical evidence of UMN involvement in the cranial nerves, while TMS demonstrated corticobulbar tract dysfunction in the orofacial muscles in 17 patients (57%) and to the tongue in 15 patients (50%). Following recording at both sites, corticobulbar tract dysfunction was confirmed in 21 patients (70%). Twelve out of 13 patients with bulbar symptoms had evidence of additional subclinical corticobulbar tract involvement using TMS. In seven out of 15 patients with isolated limb involvement, subclinical corticobulbar tract dysfunction was demonstrated. Our results indicate the presence of early and, in most cases, subclinical corticobulbar tract involvement in the pathways to the orofacial muscles and tongue in ALS.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 NeurologyHome page
A. Curra, N. Modugno, M. Inghilleri, M. Manfredi, M. Hallett, and A. Berardelli
Transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques in clinical investigation
Neurology, December 24, 2002; 59(12): 1851 - 1859.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
P. P. Urban, S. Wicht, G. Vucorevic, S. Fitzek, J. Marx, F. Thomke, A. Mika-Gruttner, C. Fitzek, P. Stoeter, and H. C. Hopf
The course of corticofacial projections in the human brainstem
Brain, September 1, 2001; 124(9): 1866 - 1876.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.