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- Measurement of thermal thresholds provides a means of assessing neurological deficit and in particular of recognising a neuropathic process affecting unmyelinated and small myelinated fibres of the peripheral nerve. These groups of fibres cannot be tested by nerve conduction studies but are particularly susceptible to disease in diabetes. Thresholds for thermal sensation on the sole of the foot were measured in 33 men presenting with erectile dysfunction. All 15 men with erectile dysfunction, which had been considered on clinical grounds to be neuropathic, had abnormal thermal thresholds. Diabetics with non-neuropathic erectile dysfunction had normal results. Whereas tests of unmyelinated sensory fibre function were abnormal in all those with neuropathic erectile dysfunction, electrophysiological measurement of the bulbocavernosus reflex was normal in five of nine men with diabetic neuropathic impotence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first four reports of the Standardisation Committee of the International Continence Society dealt with the nomenclature relating to urinary incontinence, procedures related to the evaluation of urine storage (cystometry, urethral closure pressure profile), units of measurement (Bates et al., 1976), procedures related to the evaluation of micturition (flow rate, pressure measurement), symbols (Bates et al., 1977), procedures related to the evaluation of micturition: pressure flow relationship, residual urine (Bates et al., 1980) and neuromuscular dysfunction of the lower urinary tract (Bates et al., 1981). The fifth report has remained an internal document of the Society and deals with the quantification of urine leakage. This report deals with recommendations on terminology related to neurophysiological investigations of the lower urinary tract with particular reference to electromyography, nerve pathway studies and sensory testing. These standards are proposed to facilitate comparison of results by investigators who use these investigations. It is recommended that the acknowledgement of these standards in written publications be indicated by a footnote to the section 'Methods and Materials' or its equivalent: 'Methods, definitions and units conform to the standards proposed by the International Continence Society except where specifically noted.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- In five women with urinary retention, recordings from the striated muscle of the urethral sphincter revealed highly abnormal electromyographic (EMG) activity. Using a concentric needle electrode, recordings revealed very striking bursts of activity, referred to here as decelerating burst (DB) and complex repetitive discharges (CRD). Such EMG activity is exceedingly unusual in skeletal striated muscle and resembles most closely the rarely encountered condition of 'pseudomyotonia'. We suggest that this abnormal activity is associated with a failure of relaxation of the striated muscle of the urethral sphincter, which results in chronic retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]