Event related evoked potentials in pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia

Background and Aim: Preeclampsia is the most significant cause of neurocognitive disturbances in pregnancy. These symptoms may persist for many years after the index pregnancy even if the somatic symptoms of preeclampsia disappear. In the present study, we have assessed the early cognitive changes in preeclamptic females with the help of event related evoked potentials (EREPs). Methods: EREPs were recorded in 20 diagnosed patients of preeclampsia with the help of computerized evoked potential recorder using the standard auditory 'oddball' paradigm. An equal number of age and gestation matched healthy pregnant females served as controls. The latencies and amplitudes of different waves of EREPs in both the groups were analyzed by using student's unpaired T-test. Correlation of P3 (main tool for cognition assessment) with blood pressure parameters was done by using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: Latencies of waves N 2 and P 3 from frontal, central and parietal ( FzA 1 A 2 , CzA 1 A 2, and PzA 1 A 2 , respectively) were found to be significantly delayed in preeclamptic females when compared to their normal contemporizes. Neither latencies nor amplitudes of P 3 were found to be significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, or mean arterial pressure. Conclusion: Our results conclude that there are cognitive disturbances during the preeclamptic pregnancy. Prolonged latencies of EREP waves indicate that the cognitive functions such as information discrimination and reaction take longer time in preeclamptic patients when compared to their normal counterparts. This could be an electrophysiological manifestation of future memory loss in patients having preeclampsia.