Vestibular Laboratory Testing
The purpose of vestibular laboratory testing is to assess the peripheral and central vestibular system in patients with suspected labyrinthine dysfunction. Such information can be used to help establish a…
Polysomnographic Evaluation of Sleep Disorders
The term polysomnography (PSG) describes the overnight monitoring during sleep of multiple biologic variables and the evaluation of their relationships within a specific state of alertness. It uses the 10–20…
Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials: Methodology, Interpretation, and Clinical Application
Following a transient acoustic stimulus, such as a click or a brief tone pip, the ear and parts of the nervous system generate a series of electrical signals with latencies…
Electrophysiologic Evaluation of Brain Death: A Critical Appraisal
Traditionally, death was defined in medicine as the permanent cessation of heartbeat and respiration. When the loss of these functions is not reversed promptly by resuscitative measures, profound and irreversible…
Nerve Conduction Studies
Nerve conduction studies assist in the evaluation of neuromuscular diseases by providing a physiologic assessment of the peripheral nerve, muscle, neuromuscular junction, dorsal root ganglion cell, and anterior horn cell….
Electrophysiologic Evaluation of Sacral Function
Electrodiagnostic methods are well established in the evaluation of the sacral nervous system, which has a critical role in the control of bladder, bowel, and sexual functions. The application of…
Visual Evoked Potentials, Electroretinography, and Other Diagnostic Approaches to the Visual System
Clinical electrophysiology of the visual system provides an important adjunct to the bedside evaluation of patients with neurologic diseases. It provides the only means available for objective assessment of visual…
Electrophysiologic Evaluation of Patients in the Intensive Care Unit
Despite challenges, electrophysiologic studies can be performed readily in the intensive care unit (ICU) in a sensitive, reliable, and quantifiable manner. They assess nervous system functions that are clinically inaccessible….
Intraoperative Monitoring by Evoked Potential Techniques
Over the past three decades, the field of intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring has evolved and matured, and monitoring during procedures such as resection of acoustic nerve tumors and correction of spinal…
Neuromuscular Ultrasound as a Complement to the Electrodiagnostic Evaluation
Over the last three decades, ultrasound technology has evolved such that clinicians working in small laboratories can now use it to image nerve and muscle routinely. Growing evidence has established…
