Latencies obtained of the somatosensory evoked potentials of the median and tibial nerve in rhesus monkey undergoing intrauterine laminectomy to simulate myelomeningocele.

BACKGROUND

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) have been described as excellent indicators of the degree of medullar injury in degenerative and metabolic diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) is 6 cases/10,000 live newborns worldwide. It is thought that genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the etiology of NTD. The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the latencies obtained by means of SSEP in a clinically healthy monkey vs. rhesus monkeys with intrauterine surgery in order to simulate surgically the neural tube defect (myelomengocele) by performing an intrauterine laminectomy and in which later the defect was corrected.

METHODS

This study was performed using three non-human primates of the Macaca mulatta species. There were practice intrauterine surgeries in two monkeys to simulate the neurological defect produced by myelomeningocele, using the third monkey as control. For statistical methodology four monkeys were used. They were born by natural birth without any surgical manipulation. With the cesarean-obtained products, stimulation was performed of the tibial and median nerve.

RESULTS

We observed that the hind limbs were the most affected, in particular, the left afferent of the monkey. The spinal cord was exposed to amniotic fluid, and there were no significant differences in the forelimbs.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of SSEP provides valuable information regarding preservation of sensorial functions in a variety of experimental neurological abnormalities.