Abstract
We appreciate the comments by Lanska and Kryscio. We agree that McNemar statistics should be adopted for a comparison between the thumb localizing test (TLT) and other clinical sensory tests, rather than the chi-square test. Moreover, we think that factor analysis and multiple regression analysis are essential for clarifying the relationship between TLT and the posterior column–medial lemniscal system. Unfortunately, we were unable to use these methods because original data for each patient are lacking. We described elsewhere that factor analysis of sensory impairments in cases of multiple sclerosis with predominant spinal cord involvement showed two factors corresponding to superficial (pain and light-touch) and deep (joint position [JPS] sense and TLT/the big-toe localizing test [BTLT]) sensations, and that logistic multiple regression analysis showed that JPS and TLT/BTLT deficits contributed significantly to abnormalities in somatosensory evoked potentials [ [1] Fukutake T. Kuwabara S. Kaneko M. Kojima S. Hattori T. Sensory impairments in spinal multiple sclerosis: a combined clinical, magnetic resonance imaging and somatosensory evoked potential study. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 1998; 100: 199-204 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (18) Google Scholar ].
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