Objective: There are many reports that evaluate the diagnostic ability of VEP in degenerative diseases of the Central Nervous System. Particularly for the progressive loss of memory due to age, there is an indication of specific diagnostic sensitivity of the VEP.
Design: This sensitivity, as a primary diagnostic element, was evaluated in symptom- free patients who presented year by year symptoms of dementia of VD.
Materials and Methods: In a period of 6 years 38 healthy people were examined (21 of them were female) aged from 58-67 years old, who manifested progressive symptoms of VD after a lapse of years. The control group was 38 healthy persons, cognitively normal matched of age and sex. Healthy and patients were examined with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the VEP were recorded. The results were compared.
Results: A net difference in the time of P2 was observed in VEP tests (p<0,001 Wilcoxon signed ranks test) between the healthy and patients. On the contrary we have not noticed any significant difference between the two groups in MMSE test. It was characteristic for the group of VD that the importance of the cognitive disturbance showed correndence to those of VEP delay latences of VD.
Conclusion: The delay P2 latency in elderly persons at base line must be considered as a significant predictor of the risk of development of dementia.
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