A survey of the pattern reversal visual evoked response (PRVER) in 1428 consecutive patients referred to a clinical neurophysiology department.
The records of 1428 neurological patients referred to a department of Clinical Neurophysiology for PRVER testing have been reviewed. Half field studies with multichannel recordings were carried out in the majority. 1186 of these patients had a provisional diagnosis of MS; 42% had abnormal PRVERs compared with 25% for those patients who did not have MS. Symmetrical latency increases from stimulation of either eye, interocular latency abnormalities and amplitude abnormalities were as frequent in the non-MS patients as the group with a provisional diagnosis of MS. A small proportion of patients had neurophysiological evidence of field defects; homonymous hemianopias occurred as frequently as "central" defects in the MS group. The PRVER abnormalities are considered in relation to the current models of conduction in demyelinated fibres.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology