[Follow-up studies of patients with neonatal icterus using acoustic evoked potential audiometry]

Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia is a common cause of sensorineural hearing loss. There is no exact method to detect the neurotoxicity of bilirubin. On the other hand the auditory pathway is known to be one of the most sensitive part of the CNS to this toxic agent. 39 one-year-old children were examined by BERA, who had had hyperbilirubinaemia in the newborn period. According to the risk factors the patients were divided into two groups but there was no significant difference in BERA changes. Two infants were found suffering serious hearing loss, who required hearing aids. Five more had some subclinical BERA changes. The authors emphasize the value of acoustic evoked potentials in evaluation infants after neonatal jaundice.