A comparison of motor evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with multiple sclerosis and potentially related conditions

Central motor conduction (CMC) and central sensory conduction (CSC) studied by means of magnetic cortical stimulation and recording of somatosensory evoked potentials, were examined and compared in 87 patients with multiple sclerosis or potentially related conditions. In all groups of patients (either grouped by diagnosis, clinical symptomatology or disease duration) there were more aberrations in CMC compared to CSC. This difference became statistically significant when all patients were taken together. By both methods we were able to detect signs of clinically silent lesions and these were often restricted to either of the pathways