Lumbosacral plexus neuritis

Sander, James E. M.D.
Sharp, Frank R. M.D.

From the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics and the Child Neurology Division, University of California, San Francisco, CA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Sharp, Neurology H-815, University Hospital, University of California Medical Center. 225 Dickinson, San Diego, CA 92103.

This paper was presented in part at the thirty-second annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, New Orleans, LA, May 1980.

Acknowledgments We greatly appreciate the help of Drs. Robert B. Layzer and Bruce O. Berg, who allowed us to use their patients, critically reviewed the manuscript, and encouraged our efforts. We also appreciate the work of Mrs. Valerie Brainard and Mr. Robert McClary, who typed the manuscript.

Accepted for publication July 29, 1980.

Neurology 31(4):p 470-473, April 1981.

Article abstract

We studied four patients with neurologic disorders of the lumbosacral plexus. Except for location of symptoms, the disorder conformed to criteria established for the clinical diagnosis of brachial plexus neuritis. Acute onset of pain in one or both legs was followed by weakness, loss of stretch reflexes, and sometimes atrophy of affected muscles. The disorder affected individual nerves or parts of the plexus. Gradual recovery occurred in all four patients.