Clinical Application of Short Latency Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Cervical Myelopathy

Abstract

The somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) was examined in cervical myelopathic patients to determine the clinical usefulness. Subjects were 21 patients (mean age: 63.2 years old) and 7 normal subjects (mean age: 68.0 years old). In normal subjects, all components (N9, N11, N13, N20) appeared clearly, and high interrelationship between height and each component was obtained. In cervical patients N9 component was recognized in all patients, but N11 and N13 component tended to disappear or become late in latency. Especially, N11 component was most low percentage of appearance. Clinically, abnormal SSEP was most reflected by deep sensory disturbance, but there is no relationship between SSEP and stenosis of cervical cord in myelography. These results confirmed the clinical usefulness of SSEP.