Short latency somatosensory-evoked potentials in children--Part 2. Effects of spinovertebral disorders.
Surface-recorded spinal and cortical somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) following tibial or median nerve stimulation were studied in 26 children aged from 12 months to 13 years. Fifteen patients had caudal or dysraphic spinal malformations, often with a tethered cord syndrome, while the remaining patients had spinal tumors (4), syringomyelia (3), spinal canal stenosis (2), or demyelinating syndromes (2). Somatosensory-evoked potential abnormalities were found in 13 patients. Loss of a SEP at or rostral to the site of spinal pathology was the most common finding. Prolongation of central conduction times or delay in SEP peak latencies was documented in only four patients. Correlations between clinical and electrophysiological findings revealed that all patients with sensory dysfunction had abnormal SEPs, whereas patients with motor or sphincteric dysfunction, but intact sensation, usually had normal SEPs. These relationships between SEPs and clinical findings were constant irrespective of the etiology and location of the spinal pathology. The results from this study suggest that although SEP studies provide information regarding the somatosensory pathways, their clinical utility as a method of assessing spinal cord function in children with spinal disorders is limited by technical, clinical, and anatomical factors.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009192:Myelography; D011930:Reaction Time; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*