Long-latency reflexes in patients with Behçet's disease.
OBJECTIVE
Recent studies demonstrate that the subclinical involvement of motor pathways is frequently observed in patients with Behçet's disease (BD). Long-latency reflexes (LLR) provide information about the continuity of both ascending and descending neural pathways. Our aim was to evaluate the utility of LLR and somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEP) in demonstrating subclinical neural involvement in patients with BD.


METHODS
Twenty-nine patients with BD were studied by means of SEP and LLR. Bilateral median nerve SEPs and LLRs evoked by electrical stimulation of both median nerves were recorded. The latency of second component of LLR (LLR2), the duration of LLR2-HR (Hoffmann reflex, spinal reflex component of LLR) interval, peak to peak amplitude of LLR2 and the amplitude ratio of LLR2/HR were analyzed. The data obtained from patients were compared with those of 20 control subjects.


RESULTS
LLR2 latencies and the durations of LLR2-HR interval were significantly prolonged in patients with BD (p=0.001 for both parameters). Increased duration of LLR2-HR interval was the most frequent abnormality observed in the study (37.9%).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that LLR is a useful technique to demonstrate subclinical neural involvement in patients with BD.
Tataroglu
Cengiz
C
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin 33079, Turkey. ctataroglu@mersin.edu.tr
Tursen
Umit
U
Unal
Ozgur
O
Kaya
Tamer Irfan
TI
D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric