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Neurology > Muscle & Nerve Disease > Flashcards

Muscle & Nerve Disease Flashcards

1
Q

Think about what sort of way muscle diseases could present?

A
  • Babies may have poor feeding, failure to thrive & floppy
  • Weakness
  • SOB from resp muscles
  • Poor swallowing or aspiration
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Cramp, pain, myoglobinuria
  • Wasting or hypertrophy
  • Reduced tone & reflexes
  • Motor Weakness
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2
Q

What is myoglobinuria?

A

Myoglobin leaked from muscles that are breaking down due to certain muscle diseases.
Itll appear after exercise as black urine

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3
Q

List the classifications of muscle disorders?

A
  • Dystrophies
  • Chanellopathies
    (ion channel problems -> unrelaxable or weak muscles)
  • Metabolic muscle diseases
  • Inflammatory muscle diseases
  • Congenital Myopathies
  • Iatrogenic
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4
Q

Name a drug that can cause iatrogenic muscle disease?

A

Statins

They can cause muscle degeneration leading to pain & weakness

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5
Q

What special blood test could you do for muscle disease?

A 
Creatine Kinase (CK)
Elevated in muscle damage
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6
Q

What investigations are common for muscular diseases?

A
  • History & exam
  • Creatine Kinase
  • Electromyography
  • Biopsy
  • Genetic Tests (Most muscular dystrophies are genetic)
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7
Q

How does electromyography (EMG) work?

A

APs within a muscle measured (either surface or intramuscular) to assess its function.
It can be routine (tests a whole motor unit) or Single Fibre (Assesses just one motor fibre at a time)

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8
Q

List some muscular dystrophies?

A
  • Duchenne’s MD & Becker’s MD
  • Facioscapulohumeral
  • Limb Girdle MD (Proximal limb weakness)
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9
Q

Describe a channelopathy?

A

Familial Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis causes episodes of sudden muscle weakness lasting seconds -> days

Can also be Familial Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis

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10
Q

List some types of metabolic muscle disease?

A

Endocrinopathies such as thyroid or cushing’s disease can affect the muscles.

Carb or Lipid metabolism problems can affect the ability to produce ATP for muscle contraction.
Carb will be most pronounced on heavy exercise and Lipid on prolonged excercise)

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11
Q

What are the subtypes of Inflammatory Muscle Disorders?

A

Polymyositis

Dermatomyositis (A paraneoplastic syndrome of muscle weakness and rash)

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12
Q

How would you investigate/treat Inflammatory Muscle Disorders?

A

Biopsy to inspect inflammatory cells, both diagnoses and differentiates between polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Steroids and immunosuppresants

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13
Q

What is myasthenia gravis?

A

Fatigable weakness in skeletal muscles

Most often noticed in the eye muscle (cos they move so much) so your fine in the morning but by the afternoon you start getting ptosis and diplopia

Notably does not affect the reflexes, any sensory nerves or cause the muscles to waste

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14
Q

What causes myasthenia gravis?

A

An antibody blocks ACh receptors in the NMJ.

Its fatigable because early in the day you produce lots of ACh so it can compete with the antibody but by the end of the day its depleted and the antibody wins out so you get weaker until you rest again

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15
Q

What investigations can you do for Myasthenia Gravis?

A
  • Antibody Tests
    70% +ve & takes a while
  • CT chest to exclude a thymoma
  • Electromyography
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16
Q

How does an EMG test for Myasthenia Gravis?

A

Repetetive stimulation should make the muscle fatigue, this will visible in a reduced amplitude on an EMG.

Also a single fibre EMG will show slight differences in how long each fibre takes to elicit an AP (called a “jitter”). This will actually show up before the patient becomes symptomatic, as they only get weakness when the fibres fail to elicit an AP at all

17
Q

How do we treat Myasthenia Gravis?

A
  • Acetlycholinesterase Inhibitors help with the symptoms
  • Immunosuppression prevents antibody production (Prednisalone or Azathioprine)
  • Thymectomy can prevent antibody production
  • Immunoglobins or plasma exchange temporarily binds or filters out antibodies (for a severe attack)
18
Q

Define Peripheral Neuropathy?

A

Damage to nerves outside the CNS. It can affect sensory axons, motor axons and ANS fibres

Can either be disease of a spinal root, single peripheral nerve or generalised peripheral neuropathy

19
Q

What could cause a lesion to a single peripheral nerve?

A
  • Compression or entrapment

- Vasculitis to the vessels supplying the nerve

20
Q

What could cause generalised peripheral neuropathy?

A

Metabolic:

  • Diabetes (most common)
  • Alcohol
Toxic Drugs
Infections e.g. HIV
Inherited
Paraneoplastic (e.g. prostate)
Inflammatory demyelinating such as Guillain barre (acute) or Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
21
Q

Define Guillain Barre Syndrome?

A

A type of peripheral neuropathy.
Its an autoimmune condition triggered by viral infection
(because the viral antigen is very similar to myelin)

Causes rapid onset muscle weakness/wasting, areflexia and sensory changes

22
Q

What tests can be done for peripheral neuropathies?

A
  • Blood Tests (particularly for inflammatory conditions)
  • Genetic Analysis
  • Nerve Conduction Studies e.g. EMG
  • Lumbar Puncture for CSF analysis
  • Nerve Biopsy
23
Q

What is the main type of anterior horn cell disorder?

A

Motor Neuron Disease (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - ALS)

Its a progressive loss of motor neurons (Upper & Lower)

24
Q

How does ALS present?

A 
It combines upper and lower motor neuron signs:
# LMN - Fasciculations, Wasting, weakness
# UMN - Increased Tone, Hyperreflexia
# Theres no sensory involvement
# Generalised to all muscles
25
Q

Whats the prognosis for Motor Neuron Disease?

A

3 yrs median survival post-diagnosis

26
Q

how do we diagnose ALS?

A

By the distinct combo of UMN/LMN signs plus a complete lack of sensory involvement.

Electromyography

27
Q

How would you treat ALS?

A

Supportive treatment:

  • PEG Tube
  • Non-invasive Ventilation
  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Care

Also Riluzole:

  • Licensed for improving lifespan in ALS
  • Very little evidence it works so must’nt oversell to patients

Neurology (50 decks)

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