Repeater F waves: a comparison of sensitivity with sensory antidromic wrist-to-palm latency and distal motor latency in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Thirty-five thousand six hundred supramaximal shocks were applied to 209 healthy and 147 entrapped median nerves (carpal tunnel syndrome--CTS) to characterize the backfiring behavior of the alpha motor neuron pool of abductor pollicis brevis in health and the modifying effect of a compressive neuropathy. A contraction of the normal subpopulation of active F-wave generators was found in CTS, while active neurons backfired at higher than normal frequencies (p less than 0.001). These modifications in spinal behavior are reflected in the % Repeater F-wave value, whose sensitivity in the detection of CTS approaches that of sensory wrist-to-palm latency estimation. This technique offers an alternative to latency measurement in the diagnosis of CTS. An economical strategy for the electrodiagnosis of CTS is proposed.