Degree of Agreement between Electrodiagnostic Testing and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Brachial Plexopathy

Abstract

Objective: Electrodiagnostic study (EDX) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are commonly used in the diagnosis of brachial plexopathy, but the agreement between these 2 studies is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement of EDX and MRI in patients with brachial plexopathy.

Design: The records of 69 patients with symptoms of brachial plexopathy who underwent EDX and MRI were reviewed. Based on the degree of agreement of EDX and MRI results, patients were classified as a "complete match," "partial match," or "mismatch."

Results: Both studies yielded similar results for the majority of patients (63.2%). Among the enrolled patients, 26.4% were classified as a "complete match," 36.8% as "partial match," and 36.8% as "mismatch." However, only 1 test, either EDX or MRI, revealed abnormal findings in 21.1% of patients.

Conclusions: The agreement between EDX and MRI was high in patients with brachial plexopathy. However, only one of these tests, not both, revealed abnormal findings in several cases. Although both EDX and MRI were in accord with the diagnosis of brachial plexopathy in majority of cases, these 2 studies remain complementary diagnostic modalities for evaluating brachial plexopathies.