Contribution of thalamic somatosensory evoked potentials to stereotaxic thalamometry

Introduction. In order to use short latency somatosensory thalamic evoked potentials (PES) to locale therapeutic targets in functional surgery, thalamic PES were recorded during stereotactic thalamotomy in Z5 patients with Parkinson's disease, using a concentric bipolar semi-micro-electrode, 4 mm in diameter. In the 72 trajectories planned, 628 registers were made, obtaining 314 PES in 55 trajectories. These recordings were divided into 5 groups, according to the electrical variables evaluated in each case (absolute latency, inter-peak latency, absolute amplitude and number of phases). Material and methods. The electrophysiological characteristics of the PES groups obtained, and the spatial representation of these in a tridimensional system of coordinates, is shown. We analyze the sequence of the groups of potentials in each of the trajectories followed. Conclusions. We consider that the limit between adjacent nuclear edges, ventral intermediate (Vim) ventro-caudal (Vc), may be represented by the transition of potentials in group I to potentials in group 4 and/or potentials of group 3 to those of group 2. This study shows that thalamic PES are useful for locating targets during stereotactic thalamotomy [REV NEUROL 1997, 25: 1025-1030].