Relationship of somatosensory evoked potential studies and functional performance in stroke patients with damage to the right hemisphere

Objectives. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible relationship between neurophysiological findings and functional outcome in patients with localized brain damage. Methods. Sixty-two first stroke patients with damage to the right hemisphere were examined with a noncephalic reference somatosensory evoked potential technique about one month after the insult, and by the Functional Independence Measure on admission and at discharge. Results. The patients were divided into four groups by presence or absence of neglect syndrome, and cortical response on the somatosensory evoked potential test. A significant difference was found between all four groups in functional performance on admission and at discharge. Patients with neglect syndrome and no cortical response had the worst functional performance; the best performances were recorded in those without neglect and with a definable cortical response. The differences in gain according to scores on the Functional Independence Measure were not significant. Central conduction time was longer in the hemisphere contralateral to the damage in patients without neglect than in those with neglect. No significant correlation was found between cortical and subcortical damage and the somatosensory test parameters. Conclusion. The combination of neglect syndrome and lack of cortical response on the somatosensory evoked potential test in post-stroke patients is linked to a poor functional prognosis.