Afferent pathway dysfunction in children with primary nocturnal enuresis.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate afferent pathway dysfunction in children with primary nocturnal enuresis by measuring pudendal somatosensory evoked potential and tibial somatosensory evoked potential.


METHODS
Subjects with primary nocturnal enuresis, 36 boys and 18 girls, aged from 5 to 16 years, were enrolled in this study: 24 subjects had complicated primary enuresis (CPE) and 30 subjects had monosymptomatic primary enuresis (MPE). There were no differences in bodyweight or gender between the MPE and CPE groups (P > 0.05). All of the children underwent physical examination, urine analysis, urinary ultrasound and spinal magnetic resonance imaging. Only subjects without urological and neurological abnormalities (with the exception of spina bifida occulta, which was found in some of the patients) were included in this neurophysiological study.


RESULTS
There were 20 children who were positively recorded with pudendal somatosensory evoked potential in the CPE group, and all of the children in the MPE group were positively recorded (P < 0.05). Positive records of tibial somatosensory evoked potential were successfully achieved in both groups. Furthermore, the pudendal and tibial conductive velocity were slower as compared to the normal range, especially in children in the CPE group (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Afferent pathway function may be impaired by some factors, which should be considered by both clinicians and parents.
Lv
Linya
L
Medical Examination Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. dhs666@yahoo.com.cn
Deng
Huisheng
H
Li
Xuling
X
D000293:Adolescent; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053206:Nocturnal Enuresis / Q000503:physiopathology*