PEV e BAEP in bambini affetti da Neurofibromatosi

Visual evoked potentials (VEP) and brain stem acoustic evoked potentials (BAEP) were studied in 19 children with neurofibromatosis (13 males and six females aged from seven months to 17 years; average age 6.3 years) comparing them with those of a control group of 43 healthy children (25 males and 18 females). The patients had an increased average VEP latency (III wave = p < .01559; IV wave = p < .00001) and I-V interpeak of BAEP (right I-V interpeak = p < .04083; left I-V interpeak ? p < .00852). Impaired responses were relatively common in both VEP (40%) and BAEP (35%), with a moderate but not constant relation to neuroradiological findings. Altered potentials were also present in patients without structural abnormalities. Evoked potentials serve as a sensitive test for early diagnosis of neurofibromatosis.