How compatible is clinical diagnosis with electrophysiology?

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation of the clinical diagnosis of patients referred to the electroneuromyography laboratory with the electrophysiological diagnosis. Material and Method: Eight hundred eighty two patients were enrolled in the study. Their ages, genders, the clinic that referred the patient, the clinical diagnosis, and the electrophysiological results were registered retrospectively and the results were statistically evaluated. Results: Five hundred twenty four of 882 patients enrolled in the study were women, while 358 of them were men. Four hundred hundred ninety nine (56,6%) of the patients were consulted by the Neurology department, 222 (25,2%) patients were consulted by the Neurosurgery deparment, 59 (6,7%) patients were consulted by the Physical medicine and rehabilitation deparment while 61 (6,9%) patients were referred by the Orthopedy department and 41 (4,6%) by other departments. Carpal tunnel syndrome was the most frequent clinical diagnosis (28,7%). Only in a small group of patients symptoms were assessed rather than the clinical diagnosis (2,9%). In 49,1% of the patients, There was correlation between clinical and electrophysiological diagnosis while 44,7% of patients had normal electroneuromyography results. Discussion: The high rate of the normal electroneuromyography tests and the statistically significant discordance of clinical diagnosis of patients with their electrophysiological test results show that, there are inessential electroneuromyography reguests.