Question About My Somatosensory Evoked Potential Result

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ruswifey
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Question About My Somatosensory Evoked Potential Result

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I recently had an evoked potential test done where they attached electrodes to my scalp and put the sensors on my legs and ran the electrical shocks through me in different spots. The lady conducting the test said that my right leg read higher than my left and so she wanted to know if I felt a difference which I definitely do. I have a lot more spasticity on that side and that is the one that normally gets numb when I am driving. She said that my right side was a 18.9 and my left was a 17.9 Other than that she only told me that the dr. would give me a call before my follow up if he feels that I need to be started on medication before then. I am guessing that means that I have more deterioration on my right side. Are these numbers considered really bad? Or just slightly abnormal? Does anyone know what a normal reading number is? This is all new to me so I'm very confused. Thanks for any help that you can offer, Elena
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Scott1
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Re: Question About My Somatosensory Evoked Potential Result

Post by Scott1 »

Hi,

I have never heard of those tests and I am really not sure what they mean.

Regards,
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euphoniaa
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Re: Question About My Somatosensory Evoked Potential Result

Post by euphoniaa »

ruswifey wrote:I recently had an evoked potential test done where they attached electrodes to my scalp and put the sensors on my legs and ran the electrical shocks through me in different spots. The lady conducting the test said that my right leg read higher than my left and so she wanted to know if I felt a difference which I definitely do. I have a lot more spasticity on that side and that is the one that normally gets numb when I am driving. She said that my right side was a 18.9 and my left was a 17.9 Other than that she only told me that the dr. would give me a call before my follow up if he feels that I need to be started on medication before then. I am guessing that means that I have more deterioration on my right side. Are these numbers considered really bad? Or just slightly abnormal? Does anyone know what a normal reading number is? This is all new to me so I'm very confused. Thanks for any help that you can offer, Elena
Hello ruswifey, and welcome! I'm familiar with the evoked potential tests (both the SEP and the VEP, Visual Evoked Potentials), which are usually done as part of the process to diagnose MS or rule out other problems. Here's what the NMSS says about them: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sympto ... Potentials

My neuro really didn't pay much attention to the details of my results -- in fact, MS is not the only medical condition that could cause them to be abnormal (see the NMSS link).

I had an almost 100% diagnosis of MS along with a Heriditary Peripheral Neuropathy (HNPP - missing myelin gene), from just the MRIs and EMGs -- before I got the SEP/VEP tests. So I had abnormal results on pretty much all the subsequent tests like these -- as well as the LP. My results for the SEP that you describe were so abnormal they did them over & over & over with several different types of electrodes! 8O Ouch. MY VEPs were abnormal also (but not painful).

Like I said, I don't recall that my neuros have ever mentioned the particular tests later -- just said that testing confirmed my MS diagnosis. And...that I have one of the most definite cases of MS they've seen. :smile:

Relax and take a deep breath. Some of us have had MS for many, many years (at least 40 for me) and I'm proud to say that it hasn't managed to kick my ass yet! I live a very enjoyable life and you can, too. Wander around and read here and feel free to ask more questions!
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)
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