[Informative value of complex electromyographic and immunologic examinations of patients with diabetic neuropathies]

As many as 43 patients suffering from diabetes mellitus associated with the clinical manifestations of diabetic neuropathy underwent ++clinico-electromyographic and immunologic examinations. The control group comprised 30 practically healthy persons of the same age. The electromyographic++ examination included measurements of the rate of wave spreading in motor fibers of the limb nerves in the distal and proximal parts (in accordance with the F-wave), a study of H-reflex from the musculus soleus of the leg together with M-response of hand and foot muscles. The immunologic examination consisted in measurements of different class immunoglobulins in the blood serum. Based on the electromyographic findings, 3 groups of patients were distinguished: group I included patients with primary injury to the myelin membrane of the nerves; group II was made up of patients with primary injury to the axon, and group III of patients with concomitant injury to the nervous membranes and axons. There was a significant elevation of the concentration of anti-myelin activity possessing IgM in the blood serum of patients belonging to groups I and III, which attests to the involvement of the immunopathological mechanism into myelopathy development.