Non-traumatic brachial plexopathies, clinical, radiological and neurophysiological findings from a tertiary centre.

[neuralgic amyotrophy]

To establish the clinical characteristics , aetiology , neuro-physiological characteristics , imaging findings and other investigations in a cohort of patients with non-traumatic brachial plexopathy (BP ).A 3 -year retrospective study of patients with non-traumatic BP identified by electromyography (EMG ) and nerve conduction studies (NCS ). Clinical information was retrieved from patients ' medical charts .Twenty -five patients were identified . Causes of BP included neuralgic amyotrophy (NA ) (48 %), neoplastic (16 %), radiation (8 %), post infectious (12 %), obstetric (4 %), rucksack injury (4 %), thoracic outlet syndrome (4 %) and iatrogenic (4 %). Patients with NA presented acutely in 50 %. The onset was subacute in all others . Outcome was better for patients with NA . All patients with neoplastic disease had a previous history of cancer . MRI was abnormal in 3 /16 patients (18 .8 %). PET scanning diagnosed metastatic plexopathy in two cases .NA was the most common cause of BP in our cohort and was associated with a more favourable outcome . The authors note potentially discriminating clinical characteristics in our population that aid in the assessment of patients with brachial plexopathies . We advise NCS and EMG be performed in all patients with suspected plexopathy . Imaging studies are useful in selected patients .