Preserved spinal dorsal horn potentials in a brain-dead patient with Lazarus' sign. Case report.
The case of a brain-dead patient with complex movements of the extremities (Lazarus' sign) is reported. This is the first description in the literature of short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP's) following median-nerve stimulation by a noncephalic reference method. The scalp P14 wave (a far-field positivity with a peak latency around 14 msec that originates from the cervicomedullary junction) disappeared, and the spinal N13 wave (a near-field negativity with a 13-msec peak recorded on the posterior neck and generated by the cervical dorsal horn) was preserved. Respiratory-like movement was also seen in this case. The SSEP. findings support the hypothesis that both Lazarus' sign and respiratory-like movement have a spinal origin.
Urasaki
E
E
Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Tokimura
T
T
Kumai
J
J
Wada
S
S
Yokota
A
A
D000368:Aged; D001926:Brain Death / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology