Somatosensory Evoked Blink Reflex in Neurologic diseases

Cha, Jae Kwan; Kim, Sang Ho; Kim, Jae Woo

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The somatosensory evoked blink reflex(SBR) is a newly reported blink reflex elicited by electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves. Although it has been thought that SBR is a release phenomenon transmitted via brainstem reticular formation, the actual pathophysiological mechanism still remains unknown. In this study we investigated the correlation between the somatosensory evoked blink reflex and specific type of diseases where it was well documented.
METHODS
SBR was examined on 118 patients, having various neurologic diseases; 39 cases with hemifacial spasm, 26 cases with parkinson's disease, 12 cases with dystonia, 19 cases with stroke, 17 cases with peripheral neuropathy, and 5 cases with other diseases. Somatosensory evoked blink reflex can be obtained by electrical stimuli on median nerves. Latency and amplitude of the SBR was measured by inspection of superimposed responses.
RESULTS
Among the 118 patients, SBR was presented in 23 patients. The somatosensory evoked blink reflex was seen most often in hemifacial spasm, parkinson's disease and dystonia.
CONCLUSION
We concluded that the somatosensory evoked blink reflex was not usually elicitable but it was relatively well presented in specific diseases which were known to have increased excitability of the blink reflex pathway.