Usefulness of Manual Muscle Testing of Pronator Teres and Supinator Muscles in Assessing Cervical Radiculopathy

Laterality of muscle weakness between the pronator teres and supinator muscles (LPS) and MR images of the cervical spinal cord were examined in patients with cervical radiculopathy (CR) and age-matched controls. The LPS diagnostic sensitivity (95 of 115 patients, 82.6%) and specificity (77 of 102 patients, 75.5%) in CR are significant. Eighteen patients who showed no amelioration of LPS within 2 to 4 weeks had high probability of moderate to severe cervical disc protrusion. LPS is a simple but useful test for the detection of cervical lesion and prediction of its prognosis.