[Clinico-electrophysiologic and pathomorphologic characteristics of congenital paralysis of the arms]

Results of clinical, electrophysiological and roentgenological examinations of 36 children with natal paralyses of the arms are analyzed. In two cases a postmortem verification was carried out. The data obtained suggest that natal damages to the humeral plexus structures and the spinal cord radicles underlie these paralyses. Only in individual cases characterized with a grave damage to the cervical division of the vertebral column spinal cord traumas may be responsible. The low-frequency activity of the affected muscles on an EMG is not yet a proof of a gross primary affection of the spinal cord, and cannot serve as a criterion for localizing the damage to the peripheral motor neuron. The bioelectrical activity changes should be interpreted with consideration of the complex of clinical symptoms.