Abstract
Frontal, central and parietal short and middle latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) arising after stimulation of the contralateral median nerve were studied in 10 normal adults. Stable SEPs were recorded: a frontal P 21 − N 30 complex and an N 20 − P 23 − P 28 − N 35 − P 42 complex in the centro-parietal region. The use of a chin reference electrode allowed identification of (the thalamic) P 15 and N 18 . SEP studies of 20 patients with unilateral cerebral ischaemia were also performed, about 4 and 18 days after the stroke. In 13 out of 18 patients with a minor stroke (TIA, RIND and PNS) abnormalities of the frontal and/or parietal SEPs were demonstrated. Improvement in these SEPs occurred in 5 cases. In two patients who suffered from a major ischaemic deficit, the SEPs were highly abnormal and did not show any change in the course of time. SEP studies may be useful for the diagnosis of minor cerebral ischaemia as well as quantification of recovery; an even more important indication for this neurophysiological method might be detection of subclinical lesions in patients who have suffered from transient cerebral ischaemia even weeks before the SEP studies are carried out.
Published Version
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