Spasticity is a symptom occurring in many neurological conditions including stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypoxic brain damage, traumatic brain injury, tumours and heredodegenerative diseases. It affects large numbers of patients and may cause major disability. So far, spasticity has merely been described as part of the upper motor neurone syndrome or defined in a narrowed neurophysiological sense. This consensus organised by IAB-Interdisciplinary Working Group Movement Disorders wants to provide a brief and practical new definition of spasticity-for the first time-based on its various forms of muscle hyperactivity as described in the current movement disorders terminology. We propose the following new definition system: Spasticity describes involuntary muscle hyperactivity in the presence of central paresis. The involuntary muscle hyperactivity can consist of various forms of muscle hyperactivity: spasticity sensu strictu describes involuntary muscle hyperactivity triggered by rapid passive joint movements, rigidity involuntary muscle hyperactivity triggered by slow passive joint movements, dystonia spontaneous involuntary muscle hyperactivity and spasms complex involuntary movements usually triggered by sensory or acoustic stimuli. Spasticity can be described by a documentation system grouped along clinical picture (axis 1), aetiology (axis 2), localisation (axis 3) and additional central nervous system deficits (axis 4). Our new definition allows distinction of spasticity components accessible to BT therapy and those inaccessible. The documentation sheet presented provides essential information for planning of BT therapy.
Event-related potentials (ERPs) can provide valuable information about cognitive capabilities in severely braindamaged patients. This study examined 120 patients with severe brain damage using event related potentials ERPs (N 400) to gain information about their remaining semantic processing capabilities and to contribute to differential diagnosis. Patients were classified into three diagnostic groups: patients in vegetative state (VS), patients in near vegetative state (NEVS) and patients not in vegetative state (NOVS). N400 ERPs were analyzed on an individual basis. All three groups could be differentiated by N400. While VS-patients as a group were least likely to show N400, some VS-patients (approx. 12%) showed clear semantic N400 potentials as an indication of semantic processing capabilities. Patients in NEVS showed significantly more intact semantic capabilities (76.74%) than the VS-group despite little clinical differences between the two groups. Thus, ERPs provide valuable information about patients with brain injury whose clinical conditions often do not allow a true assessment of their cognitive capabilities. Given these findings, we would espouse that both ethical and legal debate should take into account results of ERP studies of such patients.
Botulinum toxin (BT) therapy is an established treatment of spasticity due to stroke. For multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity this is not the case. IAB-Interdisciplinary Working Group for Movement Disorders formed a task force to explore the use of BT therapy for treatment of MS spasticity. A formalised PubMed literature search produced 55 publications (3 randomised controlled trials, 3 interventional studies, 11 observational studies, 2 case studies, 35 reviews, 1 guideline) all unanimously favouring the use of BT therapy for MS spasticity. There is no reason to believe that BT should be less effective and safe in MS spasticity than it is in stroke spasticity. Recommendations include an update of the current prevalence of MS spasticity and its clinical features according to classifications used in movement disorders. Immunological data on MS patients already treated should be analysed with respect to frequencies of MS relapses and BT antibody formation. Registration authorities should expand registration of BT therapy for spasticity regardless of its aetiology. MS specialists should consider BT therapy for symptomatic treatment of spasticity.
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