Somatosensory evoked potentials in rats with acute uremia

The effects of acute renal failure (ARF) on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were studied in rats. With the increase in blood urea nitrogen caused by the ligation of bilateral ureters, both a significant augmentation of amplitudes of the SEP and an increase in the SEP latencies were observed. The nerve conduction velocities of peripheral nerves were unchanged. Thus a kind of cortical irritability and a lesser degree of damage in the peripheral nervous system are characteristics in ARF.