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Somatosensory evoked potentials in the differential diagnosis between compression and amyotrophic srinal cord literal sclerosis
Author(s) -
Carvalho M.,
Conceiçäo I.,
Alves M.,
Luis M. L. Sales
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1995.tb00470.x
Subject(s) - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , differential diagnosis , somatosensory evoked potential , medicine , spinal cord , spinal cord compression , multiple sclerosis , cord , anesthesia , pathology , disease , surgery , psychiatry
Spinal cord compression (SCC) often presents a similar clinical picture to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). An early differential diagnosis is important because SCC is a potentially treatable clinical disorder. We carried out a longitudinal study of 43 patients with an initial diagnosis of ALS, in order to ascertain the percentage of patients with SCC, and to evaluate the usefulness of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in early diagnosis. Thirty‐three patients had a final diagnosis of ALS and 8 of SCC. SEPs central conduction was abnormal in 3 ALS and 7 SCC patients, respectively (Fisher exact test, p < 0.05). We concluded that SEPs investigation is useful in the differential diagnosis between ALS and SCC patients with pure motor signs.