Motor Nerve Conduction in Diphtheria and Diphtheritic Myocarditis

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Abstract
Motor nerve conduction velocity was studied in 30 children with diphtheria, 11 of whom had myocardial involvement. Simultaneous serum transaminase activity determinations, 12 lead standard electrocardiography tracings, and motor nerve conduction velocity studies were performed to detect early involvement of the myocardium and peripheral motor nerves. All patients with either diphtheria or diphtheritic myocarditis showed delayed conduction velocity of median, ulnar, and common peroneal nerves. The individual nerve conduction velocities, as well as mean determinations, were delayed as compared with those of the control, but delayed nerve conduction velocity was more pronounced in patients with diphtheritic myocarditis with conduction system disturbances than in those with isolated diphtheria, although the degree of clinical peripheral nerve involvement was the same.