Article

The Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Test (SWMT) is a clinical widely
used test to quantify the sensibility in patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
(CTS). No study has investigated the relationship between the SWMT and sensory
nerve conduction studies (SNCS) in patients with CTS. OBJECTIVE: To assess the
relationship between the SWMT and SNCS findings in patients with CTS. METHODS:
This cross-sectional clinical measurement study included 35 patients with CTS (55
hands) with a mean age of 45 +/- 12 years. The outcome measures were the SWMT and
SNCS measures of distal latency (DLs), amplitude (AMPs), and nerve conduction
velocity (NCV). The median innervated fingers were tested using SWMT and
electrodiagnostic tests. The primary outcome was the correlations between the
SWMTs and NCS measures. RESULTS: All of the patients/hands had abnormal NCS
findings. When looking at the three digits of interest (thumb, index and middle),
the thumb SWMTs had the highest number of abnormal findings (58.2%), with the
middle digit having the lowest (45.5%). All NCS findings were statistically
different between abnormal and normal thumb SWMTs and abnormal and normal total
summed SWMTs. There were significant moderate correlations between thumb SWMT
scores and all NCS outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Although only approximately 50% of the
CTS diagnosed through NCS are corroborated through SWMT; the significant
associations between SWMT and NCS measures suggest that SWMT is a valid test for
assessing sensations in patients with CTS.

Langue : ANGLAIS