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Wada activation test; intracarotid sodium amobarbital procedure (ISAP)
Indications:
- used prior to ablative surgery for epilepsy & sometimes resection of brain neoplasm
Clinical significance:
- used to establish cerebral language & memory representation of each hemisphere
Procedure:
- sodium amobarbital is injected into one of the internal carotid arteries via a catheter from the femoral artery
- the drug is thus injected into one hemisphere at a time
- the effect is to suppress language &/or memory function in that hemisphere in order to evaluate the other hemisphere
- the patient is engaged in a series of language & memory related tests
- memory is evaluated by showing a series of items or pictures to the patient
- within a few minutes when the effect of the medication is dissipated, the ability to recall can be tested
General
provocative clinical test
References
- Wikipedia: Wada test
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wada_test