Muscle wasting
Muscle wasting is the loss of muscle bulk due to:
- reduced neuronal stimulation of the muscle
- primary muscle disease:
- muscular dystrophy
- myopathy
- myositis
Reduced neuronal stimulation of the muscle may be due to:
- a lesion of the peripheral nerve or the neuromuscular junction:
- often referred to as a "lower motor neurone" lesion
- when there is a progressive lesion of a motor nerve, wasting only occurs when collateral sprouting from surviving neurones is not sufficient to preserve muscle function
- EMG will detect a motor unit potential abnormality
- disuse atrophy:
- often occurs around a painful joint
- EMG is usually normal
- parietal atrophy:
- due to stroke
- EMG is usually normal
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.