title: Motor potentials by magnetic stimulation in periventricular leukomalacia.
abstract: Periventricular leukomalacia is characterized by damage to the brain's white matter and impairments in motor function. Motor-evoked potentials by transcranial magnetic stimulation evaluate corticospinal tract function. We analyzed alterations in motor-evoked potentials in newborns with periventricular leukomalacia. Thirty infants (aged 4.37 +/- 1.1 months mean +/- S.D.) were divided into three groups: 10 healthy, and 10 with focal and 10 with diffuse periventricular leukomalacia. Potentials recorded in the right abductor pollicis brevis of healthy infants indicated a total motor conduction time of 26.3 +/- 2.4 ms, central motor conduction time of 17.0 +/- 2.6 ms, and central motor conduction velocity of 12.3 +/- 2.2 m/s. In the tibialis anterior, total motor conduction time was 27.4 +/- 2.6 ms; central motor conduction time was 16.7 +/- 2.8 ms, and central motor conduction velocity was 25.2 +/- 3.4 m/s. In the focal periventricular leukomalacia and diffuse periventricular leukomalacia groups, an increase in central motor conduction time and a decrease in central motor conduction velocity (P < 0.05) were evident, without differences between the two groups. Motor-evoked potentials in periventricular leukomalacia revealed an increase in central motor conduction time and a decrease in central motor conduction velocity, without differences between diffuse and focal types.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, Mexico. santiago@inb.unam.mx
authors.forename: Efraín
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Santiago-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: León-Castillo
authors.forename: Thalía
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harmony
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Bouzas
authors.forename: María Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: García-Gomar
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004569:Electroencephalography; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007969:Leukomalacia, Periventricular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation