Utility of electrodiagnostic studies in patients referred with a diagnosis of polyneuropathy

• Published in: Muscle & nerve Vol. 61; no. 3; pp. 288 - 292
• Main Authors: Ginsberg, Matthew R., Morren, John A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-03-2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Confidence intervals; Diabetes mellitus; Diagnosis; Electrodiagnosis; electrodiagnostic study; EMG; Female; Humans; Male; Medical diagnosis; Neural Conduction; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - diagnosis; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - physiopathology; Peripheral neuropathy; Polyneuropathies - diagnosis; Polyneuropathies - physiopathology; Polyneuropathy; Regression analysis; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; utility; value; yield; utility; electrodiagnostic study; peripheral neuropathy; value; EMG; yield
• ISSN: 0148-639X; 1097-4598
• DOI: 10.1002/mus.26746

Background
Peripheral polyneuropathies (PN) are common neuromuscular conditions. The role of electrodiagnostic study (EDX) in diagnosis of PN is not well‐defined.
Methods
We performed a retrospective chart review of patients referred for EDX evaluation of PN.
Results
Of 162 patients analyzed, 23 had pure peripheral neuropathy (pPN; 14.2%), 29 had peripheral neuropathy and another diagnosis (PN+; 17.9%), 51 had an alternative diagnosis (nonPN; 31.5%), and 59 had normal studies (36.4%). In univariable analysis, age (P < .001) and gender (P = .004) were weakly associated with final diagnosis. In multinomial logistic regression analysis, significant predictors included age (odds ratio [OR] for nonPN/PN+:1.07 per year; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.11), gender (OR for PN+:0.2, 95% CI, 0.07–0.61), and diabetes/prediabetes (OR for pPN:3.29; 95% CI, 1.17–9.27).
Conclusions
These data suggest that EDX commonly yields additional or nonPNs in patients referred with a diagnosis of PN, and although some variables predict electrodiagnosis, none have a large enough effect to suggest poor utility in any subpopulation.
See editorial on pages 263–264 in this issue.