title: [Prognostic evaluation of patients with severe head injury by motor evoked potentials induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation--combined analysis with brainstem auditory evoked potentials].
abstract: Prognostic evaluation of severe head injury was performed on the basis of transcranial magnetic motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs). The subjects were 43 severe head injury patients with Glasgow Coma Scale Scores (GCS) of 9 or less. MEPs were recorded within 3 days after the injury. Patient outcome at 1, 6 and 12 months after the injury was correlated with the MEPs and BAEPs. Differences between MEP and BAEP findings in focal lesions and diffuse lesions also were analyzed. MEP wave latencies and inter-peak latencies between BAEP waves IV and V and between waves I and V were evaluated. There was a closer relationship between MEP latency and GOS, especially between the good recovery group and other outcome groups. At 1 month after the injury, there was a closer correlation between MEP latency and BAEP latency in those who died than in those who survived, and this tendency was more evident with regard to focal lesions. However, there was no significant correlation between MEP and patient outcome when the lesions were diffuse. There was no correlation between BAEP latencies and patient outcome, but there was a good, close correlation between prolonged MEP latency and unfavorable outcome at 1, 6, 12 months after injury. In conclusion, the combined use of BAEPs and MEPs induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation is useful in prognostic evaluation of acute head injury patients, especially when the brain lesions are focal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011379:Prognosis; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation