Stability of lumbosacral somatosensory evoked potentials in a long-term follow-up.
Variability of the lumbosacral somatosensory evoked potential (LSEP) in test/retest situations was assessed in 49 patients with nonprogressive neurological disorder and 20 healthy subjects. The average time of LSEP follow-up in the patients was 16.2 months. The first group of healthy subjects had a short test/retest period of between 2 days and 2 weeks, and the second group had a long period between tests, with a mean of 35.7 months. The R and S waves of the LSEP were analyzed separately for latency and amplitude. Test/retest differences were statistically compared. The average correlation coefficient for healthy subjects was 0.84 and for patients was 0.78. These results suggested a remarkable stability of LSEPs in both healthy subjects and patients with nonprogressive neurological disorders. Therefore, we propose that LSEPs can be used in follow-up both to screen for initial dysfunction of the sensory system and to detect any changes in present dysfunction.
Berić
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Division of Restorative Neurology and Human Neurobiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
D000328:Adult; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000503:physiopathology; D013127:Spinal Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors