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  • Title: Evaluation of brain death using somatosensory evoked potentials.
    Author: de la Torre JC.
    Journal: Biol Psychiatry; 1981 Oct; 16(10):931-5. PubMed ID: 7306615.
    Abstract:
    Twenty-two patients were tested for somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). All patients had been previously diagnosed as comatose following various types of cerebral insults. SEP was performed to determine if a prognosis of brain death could be made prior to cerebral blood flow arrest or EEG silence. It was found that five patients having eight SEP peak-to-peak latencies contained within 300-msec analysis time eventually awakened from their comatose state. Seventeen patients went from coma to brain death and eventually expired; these patients had fewer than eight peak-to-peak latencies within 500-msec analysis time as well as gross frequency delays and absence of left and right hemispheric symmetry of peaks. A group of 85 normal volunteers were used to establish SEP control base lines. It is concluded that SEP analysis may be a useful adjunct that appears to precede present criteria for brain death and could provide important information on whether potential recovery of a comatose patient may be expected.
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