Chronic demyelinating polyradiculopathy in Hodgkins's disease

$66 f i r i n g pattern of the MU's consisted of a single, occasionally a double discharge in R1 followed by a series of multi-discharges in R2 (up to 8 discharges, 50 to 150 Hz). The patients with Parkinso~ Syndrome revealed the same recruitment order. The thresholds of both R! and R2, however, were higher, the multi-discharge series in R2 frequently shorter than in normals. In hemiplegic patients, the thresholds of R1 and R2 ranged also above those of normals. Multi-discharge series in R2 were evoked less frequently. Two patients revealed a reversal of the recruitment order with lower discharge thresholds for R1 than R2. At higher stimulus rates (1Hz), a l l three groups showed a f a c i l i t a t i o n of the discharges in RI. The same MU's habituated, as expected, in R2. This habituation, however, was much less expressed in hemiplegics than in normals and even lacking in some MU's of the patients with Parkinson Syndrome. (Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, De 227/2)

F62

CHRONICDEMYELINATING POLYRADICULOPATHYIN HODGKINS'S DISEASE

DENYS EH, CALANCHINI HR, WILSON AJ, BROTMANM, ALS & Neuromuscular Research Center, Pacific Medical Center, PO Box 7999, San Francisco, C a l i f o r n i a 94120, USA A 33 years old woman was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at age 17, underwent extensive r a d i a t i o n treatment and several courses of chemotherapy over the next 11 years, the l a s t one in 1978. In September 1979 she started to complain of diffuse weakness and was found to have a high spinal f l u i d protein and slow motor nerve conduction v e l o c i t i e s . She responded p a r t i a l l y to steroids which were discontinued because of side effects. Despite some f l u c t u a t i o n s in her strength, she has remained f a i r l y stable f o r the past six months. Because of continuing complaints of anemia, anorexia, depression and f a t i g u e , a repeat evaluation was done and revealed a r e tr o per it oneal lymph node p o s i t i v e f o r Hodgkin's disease. Spinal f l u i d protein was markedly elevated without c e l l s and nerve conduction v e l o c i t i e s markedly slowed. Immunological testing revealed that the pat ient was immune suppressed. While acute Guillain-Barr@ has been shown to occur in immune suppressed pat i e n t s including patients with Hodgkin's disease, this case i l l u s t r a t e s that a chronic demyelinating polyradiculopathy can occur as w e l l .

F63 SINGLE-UNIT (SU) ACTIVITY IN LONG LATENCY RESPONSESOF STEREOTACTICALLY TREATED PARKINSONIAN PATIENTS DEUSCHL, G., LUCKING, C.H., STRUPPLER, A., KREUZMAIR, E., LEHMANN-HORN, F., Department of Neurology Technical University of Munich, M~hlstrasse 28, 8000 MUnchen, FRG Previous investigations have shown a reduction of the amplitude of the M2component,(according to Lee and Tatton, 1975) of the stretch r e f l e x in Parkinsonian patients a f te r stereotactic lesions in the dorsal subthalamic region (Lehmann-Horn et a l . , in prep.). There is l i t t l e information about the underlying a c t i v i t y of SU. Therefore~ t o n i c a l l l y active SU were recorded a f t e r sudden stretch of b r a c h i a l i s muscle in normals and Parkinsonian patients before and a f te r subthalamotomy. A t o t a l of 110 SU were recorded