O2-E-60. Usefulness of pharyngeal motor evoked potential monitoring during skull base tumor surgery

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether monitoring of pharyngeal motor evoked potentials (PhMEPs) elicited by transcranial electrical stimulation during skull base tumor surgery might be useful for predicting postoperative swallowing deterioration. The authors analyzed PhMEPs in 27 patients during 28 surgical procedures for the treatment of skull base tumors. Corkscrew electrodes positioned at C3 or C4 and Cz were used to deliver supra-maximal stimuli. PhMEPs were recorded from the posterior wall of the pharynx through a modified endotracheal tube. Postoperative swallowing function was significantly correlated with the final/baseline PhMEP ratio ( r = −0.55, p 50%. In 16 (80%) of these 20 procedures, the patients showed no changes of swallowing function postoperatively ( p