THE ROLE OF THE VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIALS IN DIAGNOSING AND MONITORING PITUITARY ADENOMAS
THE ROLE OF THE VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIALS IN DIAGNOSING AND MONITORING PITUITARY ADENOMAS

Summary/Abstract: THE VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIALS (VEP) IS A NON-INVASIVE AND REPETITIVE TEST THAT CAN EVALUATE THE EVOLUTION OF A DISORDER OF THE OPTIC PATH. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF VEP IN THE EXPLORATION OF THE OPTIC CHIASM SYNDROME IN THE COMPRESSIVE SELLAR CONDITIONS. WE PERFORMED THE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIC EXAMINATION (VEP) AND OPHTHALMOLOGIC EXAMINATION (VISUAL ACUITY, VISUAL FIELD, FO OPTIC FUNDUS) IN A GROUP OF 51 PITUITARY ADENOMAS PATIENTS AND A 90 HEALTHY SUBJECTS CONTROL GROUP, OF A TOTAL OF 114 STUDIED PITUITARY ADENOMAS. WE NOTED AN INCREASE IN THE LATENCY OF THE P100 WAVE THAT STATISTICALLY CORRELATES WITH THE VISUAL FIELD MODIFICATION. THE ADENOMA INDUCED CHANGES WERE BETTER EXPRESSED IN THE HALF FIELD STIMULATIONS (THF, NHF) – WE RECORDED A SIGNIFICANT GREATER INVOLVEMENT IN THE TEMPORAL FIELD COMPARED TO THE NASAL FIELD.VEP HAVE A GREATER DIAGNOSTIC VALUE COMPARE TO THAT OF THE VISUAL FIELD IN REVEALING THE OPTIC CHIASM COMPRESSION (76.5% VS. 68.6%). THEY CONFIRM THE VISUAL DEFICIT SHOWED BY THE PERIMETRY AND PERFECTLY REVEAL THE OPTIC PATHS’ INVOLVEMENT. IN CONCLUSION VEP IS AN INVESTIGATION OF GREAT VALUE IN EVALUATING THE PITUITARY ADENOMA REVEALING FUNCTIONAL ALTERATIONS PRIOR TO THE CLINICAL FEATURES.

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