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Brainstem auditory evoked responses in coma due to meningoencephalitis
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica
|March 1, 1984
Summary
Brainstem Auditory Evoked Responses (BAERs) help detect brainstem dysfunction in comatose patients. However, traditional bedside assessments like the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) remain slightly better for predicting patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Prognosticating outcomes for unconscious patients is clinically challenging.
- Brainstem Auditory Evoked Responses (BAERs) are emerging tools for neurological assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the prognostic value of BAERs in predicting outcomes for comatose patients with meningoencephalitis.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 15 comatose meningoencephalitis patients.
- Utilized BAERs and traditional bedside clinical assessments (Glasgow Coma Scale, cold caloric response).
Main Results:
- BAERs effectively detected brainstem dysfunction in most patients.
- Traditional bedside assessments showed a slight advantage over BAERs for outcome prediction.
Conclusions:
- BAERs are valuable for identifying brainstem dysfunction, especially when clinical assessment is limited.
- Clinical assessment remains superior for prognostication in comatose patients.