Dynamics of Neurophysiological Parameters in Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Aim: To carry out a dynamic analysis of evoked potentials (EP) in patients with multiple sclerosis in 3 and 6-month intervals for up to 3 years from the onset. We conducted a comprehensive clinical and neurophysiologic study of 76 patients (42 women and 34 men, mean age 26.7±3.4 years). In dynamics, when examining auditory stem EPs, signs of demyelination were observed in 43.4% of cases, and only 25% had symptoms of remyelination with an improvement in auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) parameters; in 31.5% of cases, no changes were expressed in dynamics, when examining AEPs parameters. Similarly, when discussing the dynamics of this cohort with the somatosensory examination, 51.3% showed an improvement in response parameters at different levels of the cortex or spinal-brainstem level and signs of an increase in demyelination, and only in 19.7% of patients with additional examination and SEPs, was spared from reaction to remarks and signs of remission. In the case of a dynamic study of SEPs, or AEPs, the parameters either change slightly or degenerate, i.e. an increase in demyelination. In less % of cases, compared with the dynamics of VEPs, improvements were noted, and there were remyelination processes: 55.3% for VEPs, 25% for AEPs, and 19.7% only for SEPs, respectively. Thus, for three years after optic neuritis, two opposite processes are active in the optic nerve: on the one hand, the recovery process of remyelination, and on the other hand, the asymptomatic process of demyelination and/or degeneration of axons.