Correlation of Electrodiagnostic Findings in C8 Radiculopathies With Radiographic Data A Retrospective Chart Review

Signs and symptoms of a C8 radiculopathy could mimic common comorbidities such as entrapment and peripheral neuropathies. These conditions and a C8 radiculopathy both can result in abnormal findings on needle examination of intrinsic hand muscles. It was hypothesized that needle examination of C8-innervated muscles in the forearm might improve concordance with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the presence of underlying comorbidities. A retrospective analysis of electromyogram and C-spine MRI data in 80 patients with negative MRI of C-spine for C8-T1 neuroforaminal stenosis was performed. The percentage of false-positive results in the MRI-negative group undergoing electromyogram testing for hand and forearm muscles (MRI-NH + F) was 3% compared with 18% (P = 0.06) in the group with electromyogram of the hand intrinsic muscles only (MRI-N-H). The false-positive result tends to be lower in the MRI-NH + F group in comparison with the MRI-N-H group especially in the presence of underlying peripheral and entrapment neuropathies.

Automated summary

A study found that needle examination of forearm muscles may improve the accuracy of MRI results for patients with radiculopathy, especially in the presence of peripheral and entrapment neuropathies. This suggests that including forearm muscle examination in electromyogram testing can reduce false-positive results compared to testing just hand intrinsic muscles.