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Updated: Aug 27, 2026
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Brainstem auditory evoked potentials and visually evoked potentials in young patients with IDDM
R Seidl1, R Birnbacher, E Hauser
1Pediatric Department, University of Vienna, Austria.
Insights
Young patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) can develop central nervous system dysfunction, indicated by abnormal evoked potentials (EPs). Disease duration and severe hypoglycemia are key risk factors in these children and adolescents.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is a chronic condition affecting children and adolescents.
- Potential subclinical central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction in young IDDM patients requires investigation.
- Establishing relationships between CNS changes and disease parameters is crucial for understanding long-term outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if young IDDM patients exhibit central nervous system dysfunction.
- To identify potential correlations between disease parameters and CNS involvement in IDDM.
Main Methods:
- Compared neurophysiological studies (auditory and visually evoked potentials - EPs) in two groups of IDDM patients (long-term vs. short-term disease) with age- and sex-matched controls.
- Excluded patients with clinical signs of neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, or hearing impairment.
- Analyzed relationships between EP latencies and disease duration, age at onset, history of hypoglycemia, and metabolic control.
Main Results:
- Long-term IDDM patients (group 1) showed significantly increased P100 latencies in visually EPs and interpeak latencies I-V in auditory EPs compared to controls.
- 37% of long-term IDDM patients had abnormal EPs, while short-term patients (group 2) had results within normal limits.
- Longer disease duration, younger age at onset, history of severe hypoglycemia, and poorer metabolic control were associated with prolonged EP latencies.
Conclusions:
- Evoked potentials (EPs) are effective noninvasive tools for detecting subclinical CNS involvement in pediatric and adolescent IDDM.
- Disease duration and the frequency of severe hypoglycemia are the most significant risk factors for CNS dysfunction in young IDDM patients.
Objective:
To investigate whether young IDDM patients develop central nervous dysfunction and to establish a possible relationship with various disease parameters.
Research Design And Methods:
Thirty-two patients, aged 13.5 +/- 2 years, with disease duration of 6 +/- 2.6 years and age of onset of 7.7 +/- 3.2 years (group 1), and 21 patients with short-term disease, age 9.7 +/- 3.5 years, duration of disease < 2 years and age of onset of 9.4 +/- 3.3 years (group 2) were compared with age- and sex-matched control subjects. Exclusion criteria were clinical signs of neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, or hearing impairment. Neurophysiological studies included auditory and visually evoked potentials (EPs).
Results:
Patients in group 1 revealed increased P100 latencies of visually EPs (103.4 +/- 4.5 vs. 96.8 +/- 3.7 ms) and interpeak latencies I-V of auditory EPs (4.16 +/- 0.10 vs. 3.99 +/- 0.09 ms) and had abnormal latencies (values outside 2.5 SD) in 37%. However, short-term patients (group 2) had results within normal limits compared with control subjects. In group 1, longer disease duration and younger age at onset correlated with an increase of P100 latency (P < 0.001) and IPL I-V (P < 0.001). Patients with a history of severe hypoglycemic episodes had increased latencies compared with patients without hypoglycemia (P < 0.05). Furthermore, metabolic control during the last 2 years was related to P100 latencies (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
EPs noninvasively detect subclinical central nervous system involvement in children and adolescents with IDDM. Most important risk factors are duration of disease and frequency of severe hypoglycemia.
