Crossed acoustic response combined with visual and somatosensory evoked responses in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
The crossed acoustic response, (CAR), a recently introduced test of brainstem function, has been studied in 66 patients with multiple sclerosis and 53 control subjects, and compared with conventional visual and somatosensory evoked responses (VER, SER). A latency abnormality was found in the CAR in 73% of patients, in the VER in 63%, and in the SER in 37%. Abnormalities have been related to the presence or absence of clinically detectable signs. All three responses detected subclinical lesions by showing abnormality in a proportion of multiple sclerosis patients who had no corresponding abnormal clinical signs (CAR 69%, VER 42%, SER 29%). The best diagnostic combination of responses was VER and CAR. Ninety per cent of patients had at least one of these two responses abnormal.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*