RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the value of lower-limb short latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SLSEP) in predicting early death in patients with massive cerebral infarction.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-eight patients of massive cerebral infarction were admitted in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit (NICU) between March 2008 and March 2009, and Glasgow-Pittsburgh coma scale (GPCS) and SLSEP were recorded and graded within 24 h after admission. The patients were divided into survival and death groups (including brain death) according to their short-term prognosis. The correlations of SLSEP and GPCS to the mortality were assessed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A significant correlation was found between SLSEP and the mortality in patients with massive cerebral infarction (r=0.484, P<0.001). The positive predictive value of the SLSEP grade 3 to death was 100%, and the patients with malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (mMCAI) appeared to have a 100% mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SLSEP grade 3 can be a highly specificity in predicting early death in patients with massive cerebral infarction, and it is also of value in determining the timing of surgical intervention of mMCAI.</p>