[Value of electromyography in the thoracic outlet syndrome (author's transl)]

Electromyogram studies were conducted in 55 patients with the thoracic outlet syndrome, together with the motor nerve conduction velocity (M.N.C.V) in the median cubital nerves, between the Erb's point and axilla and in the upper limb. Distal S.N.C.V. was measured in 19 cases. Proximal nerve compression was confirmed in 29% of cases, with associated carpal canal compression in 22%. The proximal N.C.V. of the median and cubital in the neurological forms, and of the median in the neurovascular forms, were significantly different from normal values in 18 control subjects, but were not so in the vascular forms. Through E.M.G. examination cannot confirm the need for surgery it can supply supportive evidence. No correlation between the clinical course and the proximal N.C.V. was found in the 18 patients seen after treatment (surgery in 13 cases).