109. Multicenter evaluation of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) normative data in infancy

Abstract

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) represent a useful electrophysiological diagnostic tool in neuropediatry; normative data covering the full range of age, from neonate to adolescent, are rarely attainable from a single Laboratory. Purpose of the study was to collect normative data from several Laboratories to compare the reliability among laboratories; verify weather pooling of data can satisfy statistical requirement as if the data were collected in a single laboratory. Upper limbs and lower limbs SEP of 172 subjects from four Centers (Milan, Padua, Florence, Rome) were analysed. Age ranged from neonate to adolescents. Neonates and infants had a high variability of cortical responses; central conduction time (CCT) of the upper limbs was shorter than CCT of lower limbs; intra-spinal CCT of lower limbs was shorter than the cervical to cortical CCT; cortical upper limbs SEP grow faster than the lower limbs. The variability of cortical SEP in neonates and infancy probably reflects a variability of awake-sleep state but also the types of sensory fibres stimulated and the central sensory pathways organisation might play e role. Multicenter collection of SEP data is very useful to compare normative data, improve interpretation and deeper our knowledge on maturation of sensory systems.