Highlights
- •Tibial nerve SEPs were studied in NMOSD and MS patients presenting with leg symptoms.
- •A few MS patients had very prolonged central conduction time and P38 latency.
- •Those patients tended to have high EDSS.
Abstract
Background
Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) are widely used for the diagnosis and evaluation
of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). However,
whether the parameters of tibial nerve SEPs can help to distinguish NMOSD from MS
remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the utility of tibial
nerve SEP parameters in differentiating patients with NMOSD and MS.
Methods
The clinical data of patients with NMOSD or MS treated in our institution between
2005 and 2021 were retrospectively extracted from our electronic database. Additional
inclusion criteria were presentation with sensory symptoms in the lower extremities
with corresponding lesions in the magnetic resonance images as well as available data
on anti-aquaporin-4 antibodies and tibial nerve SEPs. The Z-scores of the N21–P38
interval (central sensory conduction time), P38 latency, and P38 amplitude were compared
between the patients with NMOSD and MS. The relationship of disease severity with
the parameters of the tibial nerve SEPs was also evaluated.
Results
Twenty patients with NMOSD and 13 patients with MS were enrolled. The Z-scores of
the N21–P38 interval and P38 latency were significantly higher in the MS group than
in the NMOSD group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively), whereas there was no difference in the Z-scores of the P38
amplitude between the two groups. In the MS group, only the N21–P38 interval and P38
latency were significantly correlated with disease severity (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). In contrast, none of the tibial nerve SEP parameters were
significantly correlated with disease severity in the NMOSD group.
Conclusion
Evaluation of the N21–P38 interval and P38 latency in tibial nerve SEPs potentially
helps in differentiating between NMOSD and MS.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 03, 2023
Accepted:
January 2,
2023
Received in revised form:
December 24,
2022
Received:
September 8,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
