Determination of evoked potential and cognitive function in patients with acute leukemia

Objective To explore the value of brainstem auditory evoked potential(BAEP),visual evoked potential(VEP)and Revised Visual Retention Test(VRT)in detecting impairment of central nervous system in patients with acute leukemia(AL).Methods Neuropack-Ml type evoked potential machine(Japan)was used to check brainstem auditory evoked potential(BAEP)and visual evoked potential(VEP).BAEP,VEP and VRT were examined in 30 cases with acute leukemia(group AL)and in 30 age and sex matched healthy subjects as a control(groupC).Indexes of BAEP including peak latency(PL)of waves I ,IB ,V and inter-peak latency(IPL)of waves Ⅰ～Ⅲ,Ⅲ ～Ⅴ,Ⅰ～Ⅴand indexes of VEP(P100PL)were determined.VRT was accomplished meanwhile applying B method with C pattern,C method with D pattern,D method with E pattern.The correct scores and error scores were recorded separately.Results BAEP:the abnormal rate of the group AL was 23.3 %.Compared with control group,we found significant longer latency of wave Ⅲ、Ⅴ(P＜0.05)and significant elongation in the mean inter-peak latencies of Ⅰ～Ⅴ(P＜0.05).VEP:the abnormal rate of the group AL was 26.7% ,the P100 PL of the patients was longer than that in the control group(P＜0.05).VRT:the abnormal rate of the group AL was 33.3%.The results of VRT showed that the score in the group AL in D method with E pattern was lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion BEAP,VEP and VRT could detect the impairment of central nervous system in patients with acute leukemia sensitively,and give clues to early diagnosis of central nervous system leukemia(CNSL). Key words: Leukemia; Central nervous system; Evoked potentials; auditory; brainstem; Evoked potential; visual