To the Editor:—
In my letter to The Journal of July 16, 1960, page 1272, I questioned Johnson's and Olsen's statement that "the conduction velocity is normal in poliomyelitis" (JAMA172:2030-2035, 1960). I did so on the basis of my own work with 26 chronic poliomyelitis patients in whom nerve conduction velocity was slowed (J Neurophysiol12: 259-266, 1949). This deviation from normal was shown to be highly significant statistically.Dr. Ernest W. Johnson replied in a letter to The Journal (Sept. 17, 1960, page 327) that "it has been shown since this study [of Hodes] that the conduction velocity is normal in poliomyelitis," and quotes evidence apparently in support of this contention. Each of the 3 papers cited, however, including Dr. Johnson's own previous work (Arch Phys Med41: 185-190, 1960), contains data from poliomyelitis patients in which there is clearly a slowing of conduction velocity. Certainly, velocities