Clinical correlations and evoked potentials in 29 cases of definitive multiple sclerosis

: Aiming to correlate the alterations in evoked potentials with the initial clinical manifestations of multiple sclerosis, 29 patients with the disease were studied and 19 were followed for a lapse ranging from 1 to 11 years. Visual evoked potentials were studied in all the patients and 51% were abnormal. Auditory evoked potentials were assessed in 26 patients and 26% were abnormal. Somatosensory evoked potentials were made in 21 patients and 61% were abnormal. We found no relationship between clinical status and abnormalities in evoked potentials. In the followed patients, those with the worst clinical deterioration, initially had cerebellar symptoms and pyramidal signs did not predict a bad evolution. There was no relationship between evolution time and aggravation of the disease. There was no general correlation between clinical evolution and alterations in evoked potentials however the presence of bilaterally abnormal auditory evoked potentials was a predictor of bad prognosis. It is concluded that evoked potentials are relevant diagnostic tools in multiple sclerosis, specially when they detect subclinical alterations.