Visual evoked potentials show strong positive association with intracranial pressure in patients with cryptococcal meningitis

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira,Marcelo Adriano da Cunha Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Cavalcanti,Maria do Amparo Salmito, Costa,Dorcas Lamounier, Eulálio,Kelsen Dantas, Vale,Otoni Cardoso do, Vieira,Chrystiany Placido de Brito, Costa,Carlos Henrique Nery
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2015000400309
• topic: visual evoked potentials; intracranial pressure; cryptococcal meningitis

Objective : To verify the relationship between intracranial pressure and flash visual evoked potentials (F-VEP) in patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Method The sample included adults diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis admitted at a reference hospital for infectious diseases. The patients were subjected to F-VEP tests shortly before lumbar puncture. The Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient was calculated and the linear regression analysis was performed. Results : Eighteen individuals were subjected to a total of 69 lumbar punctures preceded by F-VEP tests. At the first lumbar puncture performed in each patient, N2 latency exhibited a strong positive correlation with intracranial pressure (r = 0.83; CI = 0.60 - 0.94; p < 0.0001). The direction of this relationship was maintained in subsequent punctures. Conclusion : The intracranial pressure measured by spinal tap manometry showed strong positive association with the N2 latency F-VEP in patients with cryptococcal meningitis.