Prognostic evaluation of single modal and multimodal evoked potentials in patients with severe cerebrovascular disease

Objective To compare the evaluation of the degree of brain damage and prognostic accuracy with single modal and multimodal evoked potentials in patients with severe cerebrovascular disease.Methods Forty-two patients with acute moderate to severe supratentorial cerebral vascular disease(Glasgow Coma Scale scores ≤12) were monitored with short latency somatosensory evoked potential(SLSEP)and brainstem auditory evoked potential(BAEP),depending upon Glasgow Outcome Scale(GOS),they were divided into favorable group(n=8) and unfavorable group(n=34) within 3 month after the onset according to the standards of single modal(Judson and Hall′s standard) and multimodal(Cant′s standard) evoked potentials.The specific and accurate comparisons between single modal and multimodal evoked potentials were undertaken.Results There were significant correlations between the single modal,multimodal grading standards and prognosis,the higher the grade,the poorer the prognosis was.The specificity and accuracy of single modal SLSEP(97.1% and 92.9%,respectively) were higher than those of BAEP(94.1% and 90.5%,respectively).The accuracy of multimodal evoked potentials was the same as that of the single modal SLSEP.Conclusion Single modal SLSEP may more accurately predict the prognosis of severe supratentorial cerebrovascular disease.