Somatosensory evoked potentials predict neuromotor outcome after periventricular hemorrhage.

Thirty-nine very low-birthweight (VLBW) preterm infants with periventricular hemorrhage (PVH) were studied with short-latency median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) at two, four and/or six months corrected age, and subsequently were followed to a mean age of 22 months. All 12 infants with a single SEP showing unilateral absence or prolonged latency of the early cerebral (N1) response had motor abnormalities at follow-up. A single normal SEP predicted normal motor development in 19 of 36 infants; two normal SEPs did so in 15 of 26 infants, and three normal SEPs in 12 of 14 infants. These results demonstrate that SEPs play a useful rôle in predicting neuromotor outcome for VLBW preterm infants with PVH.