post-polio syndrome? EMGs

Posted By Ruth Bridgens on January 03, 1998 at 10:13:32:









I have had slight weakness in arms and legs since age 2(1950). I have become gradually much weaker over the past 12 years (I can only walk about 20 feet before I get sciatica and stiff legs) and thought I might have had polio even though I had a normal muscle biopsy and EMG in one hand in 1987. I had EMGs in my legs this year which I was told were normal but the technique seemed very different from last time; I was told to move the muscles as little as possible instead of as much as possible. Can these two approaches lead to the same results? What is a normal or abnormal result in an EMG? I have read research (Bromberg) that some people who have had polio have normal EMGs. Is there a kind of weakness that does not cause abnormal EMGs?