Some uses of visual evoked potentials in the diagnostics of neurological disorders in developmental period.
The diagnostic value of visual evoked potentials (VEP) was assessed in a sample of 146 patients aged from 4 months to 18 years with a variety of visual disorders, and in 81 healthy controls. The methods of stimulation consisted of 1) a series of pattern reversals (PR) in 105 fully cooperative patients aged 6-18 years, or 2) a series of diffuse flashes in 41 infants, small children and mentally retarded subjects. The ranges of normal VEP parameters were defined by comparison of the subjects' groups with healthy controls of the same age and sex, who were recently tested by the same methods developed in our laboratory. The incidence of various VEP abnormalities was related to clinical findings and other investigations carried out with the scope to establish the localization and/or the disease etiology. The greatest localizing validity of VEP was found in patients with unilateral visual disorders, while the highest frequency of the most different types of VEP abnormalities was found in subjects with multiple sclerosis. Although nonspecific for any etiology, VEP abnormalities represent a sensitive screening method aimed to discover and to follow-up possible progression of visual dysfunction in children and adolescents. Since VEP, particularly of PR type, allow monitoring of subtle influences on the neuronal cortical functions, its full diagnostic value in the developmental neurology should be determined by further studies.
Martinović
Z
Z
Ristanović
D
D
Jovanović
V
V
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004596:Electroretinography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*