Prognostic Value of Somatosensory Evoked and .Motor Evoked Potentials in Acute Stroke

Abstract

The ability to predict functional outcome in stroke patients has a great importance in developing effective forms of therapy, in resource allocation and in individual consequences. There are no universally accepted methods for functional outcome yet medical investigators are working to define the possible variables that aid prognosis. Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and Motor Evoked Potentials have become worldwide accepted methods for clinical diagnosis nowadays. Short Latency Evoked Potentials and Motor Evoked Potentials generated by stimulation of the sensory and motor pathways allows clinical neurophysiologists to provide numerical data relating to the functioning of the central pathways. Recently, these methods have been investigated for their possible role in detecting the functional outcome in stroke patients. Other prognostic variables are age, sex, level of consciousness, laboratory as (blood sugar level, cholesterol level, others), radiological as (site, size, type of lesion), and different neurological scales.

This work presents a study done on 30 Egyptian stroke patients to prove the prognostic value SSEPs and MEPs as well as to enlighten the other variables detecting the functional outcome.