Normal latency values of early cortical somatosensory evoked potentials in children.
Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) after median and posterior tibial nerve stimulation were studied in 172 children ranging in age from 1 day to 16 years for the purpose of obtaining normal reference values, for use in analysing pathological cases. The mean onset and peak latencies of the N wave after median nerve stimulation and of the P wave after posterior tibial nerve stimulation were calculated for 12 age groups. N and P latencies decreased from birth to 3 years of age, when they reached their minimal values. The latencies then increased with age, the increase being greater for posterior tibial nerve SEPs than for median nerve SEPs. By contrast, the ascending time (the interval between onset and peak latencies) decreased progressively with age from birth to adolescence.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012016:Reference Values; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000502:physiology