Latent tetany and neuromuscular excitability

Abstract

The term "latent tetany" has appeared in the scientific literature in 1945. It is extremely ambiguous, and the whole context and doubts related to its use become clearer only after a slightly wider introduction and explanation of errors accumulating over the years regarding diagnosis of tetany and (above all)sensitivity as well as specificity of EMG results observed during hyper-ventilation-induced alkalosis. With time, the diagnosis of latent tetany was based also on the finding of other clinical symptoms associated with hypocalcemia -the presence of Chvostek or Trousseau signs. The term "latent tetany" is extremely ambiguous. Clinical symptoms attributed to latent tetany suggest a wide range of diseases in the field of somatic, psychosomatic medicine and psychiatry. So called "characteristic EMG findings of tetany"tend to be found in healthy people. Due to the ambiguity of the term and the complete lack of clinical sense of such a diagnosis, we do not recommend the use of the term "latent tetany"