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Gordon's reflex phenomenon in Huntington's disease
D Claus1, C Lang, B Neundörfer
1Neurologische Klinik, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Federal Republic of Germany.
European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences
|January 1, 1987
Summary
Huntington's disease patients exhibit a late tonic stretch response in the patellar tendon jerk, suggesting abnormal muscle activation. This finding may aid in diagnosing Huntington's disease, similar to other reflex tests.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.
- Gordon's phenomenon, an abnormal patellar reflex, is sometimes observed in HD.
- The underlying mechanism of Gordon's phenomenon in HD remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess the patellar tendon jerk in Huntington's disease patients.
- To investigate the cause of Gordon's phenomenon in HD: lack of antagonistic innervation or late agonistic activity.
- To explore the diagnostic potential of patellar tendon jerk abnormalities in HD.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative analysis of the patellar tendon jerk using surface electromyography (sEMG).
- Involved 8 patients with Huntington's disease and 27 healthy controls.
- Recorded electrical activity from quadriceps femoris and biceps femoris muscles.
Main Results:
- A late tonic stretch response was detected in 6 out of 8 HD patients (160-260 ms post-stimulus).
- This response occurred even in HD patients without clinically observable Gordon's phenomenon.
- Suggests abnormal, late tonic activation of the quadriceps femoris muscle.
Conclusions:
- The late tonic quadriceps activation likely causes the clinically observed Gordon's phenomenon in Huntington's disease.
- The patellar tendon jerk, specifically the late tonic response, may serve as a diagnostic biomarker for HD.
- Further research can validate its utility as a diagnostic aid.