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Evoked Potentials in Head Injury

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Celebral Contusions, Lacerations and Hematomas

Part of the book series: Advances in Neurotraumatology ((NEUROTRAUMATOL.,volume 3))

Abstract

Monitoring evoked potentials offers the unique opportunity to obtain objective data on the function of various sensory neural pathways in comatose patients. The term ‘evoked potentials’ denotes bioelectrical responses caused by a stimulus. ‘Evoked responses’ are used synonymously with ‘evoked potentials’. Three various kinds of evoked potentials are currently in use: somatosensory evoked responses (SER) after stimulation of a peripheral nerve, visual evoked responses (VER) after optic stimulation and auditory evoked responses (AER) after acoustic stimulation. From the alteration, loss or preservation of these evoked potentials one can draw some conclusions concerning the integrity of somatosensory, visual and auditory pathways. In head injury this information is of particular interest for the early assessment of the prognosis and for the diagnosis of brain death.

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  1. Neurochirurgische Universitäts-Klinik, Köln, Germany

    R. Firsching

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  1. Neurochirurgische, Universitätsklinik Köln, Federal Republic of Germany

    Reinhold A. Frowein

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Firsching, R. (1991). Evoked Potentials in Head Injury. In: Frowein, R.A. (eds) Celebral Contusions, Lacerations and Hematomas. Advances in Neurotraumatology, vol 3. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6922-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6922-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-7435-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-6922-3

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