Twenty patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis were seen at the Department of Neurology, Severance Hospital between 1984 and 1991 and their clinical features and multimodality evoked potential findings were analyzed. We could not
find
any
significant differences in sex ratio, age of onset, and clinical courses from the study results of Japanese and western groups. However, visual disturbances at the onset and optic-spinal or optic-spinal-brainstem involvements, which are known to
be
characteristic features of oriental patients, were also noted to be the most common features in study.
Multimodality evoked potential studies were performed and abnormal recordings by at least one of the examinations were found in all but one patient. VFP yielded most frequent abnormalities. Diagnostic yield of BAEP increased from overll 43% to
83%
in
cases havig brainstem symptoms or sings and the increase was much higher than those seen in VEP of SSEP. Decrease or increase in latency was occasionally noticed during follow up but majority of patients did not show significant changes in EP
findings
in EP findings. In one patient, however, EP abnormality showed improvement in 2 follow up examinations during 4 years and 7 months despit the evident aggravation in clinical features.
Evoked potentials can give valuable-information in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis but further studies are necessary to evaluate their usefulness in the follow up examination.
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