Application of brain stem response in brain-injured children

The early components of the auditory evoked potential within 10 msec following an auditory stimulus are attributed to the brain stem auditory nuclei and pathways. In pediatric neurology the auditory brain stem response (ABR) can be applied to: 1) differential diagnosis of hearing impairment in young children including objective threshold measurement of hearing, 2) electrophysiological evaluation of maturation of the auditory pathways, 3) diagnosis of the site and/or extent of neurlogical diseases affecting the brain stem and 4) observation of a degenerating process of degenerative diseases in the central nervous system. The paper is especially concerned with the application of ABR to severe neurological diseases in children including central auditory dysfunction, cerebral palsy, infantile spasm, adrenoleucodystrophy, anoxic brain damage and Down's syndrome. Value and limitation of ABR audiometry in the clinical practice were mentioned, and a special emphasis was placed on the fact that all types of auditory tests including behavioral, electrophysiological, and developmental tests are indispensable, because the ABR, like other indicators, also has its own limitation.