Functional recovery despite prolonged bilateral loss of somatosensory evoked potentials: report on two patients
- Hermann J Theilena,
- Maximilian Ragallera,
- Rüdiger von Kummerb,
- Bernd Pohlmann-Edend,
- Gabriele Schackertc,
- Michael D Albrechta
- aDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Technical University of Dresden, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Fetscherstraβe 74, 01309 Dresden, Germany, bDepartment of Neuroradiology, cDepartment of Neurosurgery, dDepartment Of Neurology, Mannheim Hospital of the University of Heidelberg, Theodor Kutzer Ufer, 68135 Mannheim, Germany
- Dr Hermann J Theilentheilen{at}rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de
- Received 2 August 1999
- Revised 29 November 1999
- Accepted 17 December 1999
Abstract
A bilateral loss of short latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) after head trauma or non-traumatic brain damage is normally associated with a deleterious neurological outcome. An adequate recovery in reported in two deeply comatose patients with head trauma or severe hypertensive encephalopathy despite prolonged bilateral loss of SSEPs over days, found in repeated recordings. Hence, a bilateral loss of SSEPs should not be considered alone for prediction of outcome in cerebral injury.
