TY - JOUR

T1 - Contact Heat Evoked Potentials (CHEPs) in Patients with Mild-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease and Matched Control

T2 - A Pilot Study

AU - Jensen-Dahm, Christina

AU - Madsen, Caspar Skau

AU - Waldemar, Gunhild

AU - Ballegaard, Martin

AU - Hejl, Anne-Mette

AU - Johnsen, Birger

AU - Jensen, Troels Staehelin

N1 - © 2015 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2016/4

Y1 - 2016/4

N2 - OBJECTIVE: Clinical studies have found that patients with Alzheimer's disease report pain of less intensity and with a lower affective response, which has been thought to be due to altered pain processing. The authors wished to examine the cerebral processing of non-painful and painful stimuli using somatosensory evoked potentials and contact heat evoked potentials in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in healthy elderly controls.DESIGN: Case-control studySETTING AND SUBJECTS: Twenty outpatients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease and in 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were includedMETHOD: Contact heat evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded in all subjects. Furthermore, warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold were assessed. Patients and controls also rated quality and intensity of the stimuli.RESULTS: The authors found no difference on contact heat evoked potential amplitude (P = 0.59) or latency of N2 or P2 wave (P = 0.62 and P = 0.75, respectively) between patients and controls. In addition, there was no difference in regard to pain intensity scores or pain quality. The patients and controls had similar warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold. Somatosensory evoked potentials, amplitude, and latency were within normal range and similar for the two groups.CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the processing of non-painful and painful stimuli is preserved in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

AB - OBJECTIVE: Clinical studies have found that patients with Alzheimer's disease report pain of less intensity and with a lower affective response, which has been thought to be due to altered pain processing. The authors wished to examine the cerebral processing of non-painful and painful stimuli using somatosensory evoked potentials and contact heat evoked potentials in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in healthy elderly controls.DESIGN: Case-control studySETTING AND SUBJECTS: Twenty outpatients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease and in 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were includedMETHOD: Contact heat evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded in all subjects. Furthermore, warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold were assessed. Patients and controls also rated quality and intensity of the stimuli.RESULTS: The authors found no difference on contact heat evoked potential amplitude (P = 0.59) or latency of N2 or P2 wave (P = 0.62 and P = 0.75, respectively) between patients and controls. In addition, there was no difference in regard to pain intensity scores or pain quality. The patients and controls had similar warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold. Somatosensory evoked potentials, amplitude, and latency were within normal range and similar for the two groups.CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the processing of non-painful and painful stimuli is preserved in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1093/pm/pnv012

DO - 10.1093/pm/pnv012

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26814248

VL - 17

SP - 675

EP - 684

JO - Pain Medicine

JF - Pain Medicine

SN - 1526-2375

IS - 4

ER -