[Sensitivity of motor evoked potentials in detecting cortico-spinal lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis].
BACKGROUND
Motor evoked potentials (MEP) are very useful for the evaluation of multiple sclerosis patients.


OBJECTIVE
To know the sensibility of MEP in a group of patients with diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.


METHODS
A transversal and descriptive study was done in 56 patients with definite multiple sclerosis (MS). MEP using magnetic stimulation were carried out in all of them, with recordings over abductor pollicis brevis and tibialis anterioris. We analyzed the sensibility of MEP and the clinical correlation of this study. In 22 patients the sensibility of MEP and somatosensory, auditory and visual evoked potentials was compared.


RESULTS
Abnormalities were detected in the 87% of records, and in 18% with absences of clinical signs of corticospinal lesion. We found statistically significant differences between relapsing-remitting form and primary chronic and progressive form (Wilk's lambda = 0.606, p = 0.00), with a high lineal relation to Kurtzke Scale (p < 0.05). In relation to the other modalities of evoked potentials, MEP were the most sensible study (68.1%), followed by somatosensory (59%), visual (45.4%) and auditory (22.5%) evoked potentials.


CONCLUSIONS
MEP are a very sensible modality of evoked potentials for the detection of corticospinal lesions in MS patients, with a high degree of clinical correlation.
Gómez-Fernández
L
L
Laboratorio de Neurofisiología Clínica, Centro Internacional de Restauración Neurológica, CIREN, La Habana, Cuba. lazaro@neubas.sld.cu
Minou-Báez
M
M
Cabrera-Gómez
J A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology*