The Diagnostic Potential of Axon Excitability Is Consistent Across Hand Muscles in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Key Points

• To investigate the consistency of nerve excitability disturbances across hand muscles in ALS patients at diagnosis.
• Analyzed axon excitability in split hand muscles of ALS patients.
• Identified disturbances prior to observable motor unit loss.
• Combined excitability metrics with motor unit parameters.
• Nerve excitability disturbances were consistent across the hand muscles at ALS diagnosis.
• These disturbances were detected before typical EMG changes appeared.
• Early identification of pathology could facilitate timely diagnosis of ALS.