Nerve conduction studies in patients with cervical spinal cord injuries.

Twenty-nine patients with cervical spinal cord lesions were tested extensively by upper extremity nerve conduction between 7 days and 15 years postinjury. Certain patients were retested serially to determine if slow progressive lesions occur in this population. Statistically significant abnormalities were found in the periphery, with a time-scale tentatively established as to when these lesions become detectable. Possible late anterior horn cell or motor root lesions were found in 17% of extremities tested.