Pediatric neurology
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Pediatric neurology · Sep 1991
Case ReportsSomatosensory evoked potentials after posterior tibial nerve stimulation in focal spinal cord diseases.
We investigated the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) produced by posterior tibial nerve (PTN) stimulation in 8 infants and children with focal spinal cord disorders. The spinal responses of the PTN-SEPs were considered to assist in the localization of spinal lesions because their abnormalities were consistent with the neurologic and/or radiologic findings in all 6 examinations that revealed abnormal spinal SEPs. ⋯ In contrast, when SEP studies demonstrated abnormal spinal and normal cortical SEPs (3 examinations), the dorsal column involvement was probably less severe; therefore, both the spinal and cortical responses provided useful information regarding afferent conduction in the dorsal column. PTN-SEPs appear to have the potential to be of value in the diagnosis of focal spinal disease, especially in infants and young children who cannot cooperate with detailed neurologic examinations.
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Hypomagnesemia has been associated with multiple neurologic abnormalities, including irritability, seizures, paralysis, and choreiform movements. A patient with short gut syndrome who developed severe hypomagnesemia during an intercurrent diarrheal illness is reported. This patient had a transient neurologic syndrome consisting of hemiparesis, mental status changes, and aphasia which resolved as the magnesium levels returned to normal. Neurologic abnormalities of this child were largely secondary to severe hypomagnesemia and should be included in the list of neurologic abnormalities that can result from this metabolic derangement.