Auditory brainstem potentials in uraemia

Evoked response audiometry was carried out to assess the viability of the auditory pathway in haemodialysed patients. The latency of the waves III and V and I-V interpeak latencies were significantly longer in the renal patients compared to the control group. The I-V interpeak latency was longer in 8 of our 13 patients than the upper limit (4.38 ms) in our laboratory. The possible cause for the central auditory dysfunction may be multifactorial, including the effect of metastatic calcifications, repeated occurrence of disequilibrium syndrome, or some small, molecular, toxic, metabolic substance. The significance of the different factors may vary among different haemodialysis centres.