[Neonatal brain injury and evoked potentials]

Marked abnormalities in ABR at discharge from NICU can predict overall prognosis in patients with neonatal asphyxia. However, in patients with neonatal asphyxia as a single risk factor, the incidence of ABR abnormalities was low and ABR was not indicative of their long-term prognosis. Over the past 10 years, we encountered 13 patients with deterioration of ABR and progressive hearing impairment after discharge from NICU. All patients showed severe cardiorespiratory symptoms in the neonatal period. Nine of thirteen patients were diagnosed as persistent neonatal pulmonary hypertension. Multimodal evoked potential studies could predict life expectancy and functional state in patients with severe motor and intellectual impairment. These kind of neurophysiological test can show the patients' functional state at the time of the examination. Discrepancies in evoked potentials and clinical symptoms provide important information regarding the pathophysiology of the patients.