Abstract
Background and objectives: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the most common mononeuropathy encountered in clinical practice. Conventional electrodiagnosis studies have been useful in the diagnosis of this condition. The Terminal Latency Index (TLI) is a derived neurophysiological value that adjusts the Distal motor Latency (DL) for the terminal distance and motor nerve Conduction Velocity (CV).
Several studies have suggested utility of the median TLI for diagnosis of CTS.
The goal of this study is to evaluate prospectively the sensitivity of the median TLI in the diagnosis of CTS and compare it with other electrodiagnosis techniques.
Material and Methods: This study was done on 111 patients as CTS group & 62 healthy subject as control group. In all groups five selected tests of electrodiagnosis were done and all of them were compared with TLI sensitivity.
Results: The mean TLI was 0.3 0.05 in the CTS group and 0.42 0.03 in the control group. The sensitivity of TLI was 73% The TLI wasn’t statistically better than the other tests, but in three cases from the CTS group, the TLI was the only abnormal test.
The 7 and 14cm method had meaningful sensitivity in contrary to other tests.
Conclusion: The sensitivity of TLI has no meaningful difference with other routine electro diagnostic tests in diagnosis of CTS.
The median TLI is a useful but not more sensitive electrodiagnostic test for CTS