title: Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials in minor head injury.
abstract: Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEPs) have been recorded in 50 patients with minor head injury (MHI) on days 1 and 30 after trauma and the data compared to 20 normals. None of the patients had visual complaints. The aim was to investigate a possible visual pathway affection in MHI and test the usefulness of PR-VEPs as an objective noninvasive tool in the detection of a possible subclinical affection of the visual system in MHI. P100 latency and amplitude had no significant difference compared to normals. Comparison of patient data on days 1 and 30 after trauma showed a significant latency decrease and amplitude increase on day 30, compared to day 1. These alterations were not age dependent. Our data suggest affection of the human visual pathway in MHI. PR-VEP recording seems to be a useful, objective, noninvasive tool, helping to identify possible subclinical affections of the visual pathway in MHI.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, University of Patras, School of Health Sciences, Greece.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papathanasopoulos
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Konstantinou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Flaburiari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bezerianos
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadakis
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papapetropoulos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012193:Reversal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology