[Auditory provoked potentials in children with neonatal risk for hypoacusia]

Auditory evoked potentials of the brain stem (AEPBS) provide a simple noninvasive method of evaluating hearing function and have been widely used for early detection of hypoacusis in children. Between April 1992 and May 1994, a study was done of 400 Mexican children who presented at least one neonatal risk factor for hearing impairment. The average age of the children studied was 6.6 months and their average gestational age at birth was 35.1 weeks. Just over half of them (51%) had been treated with amikacin. The study found 1427 risk factors (3.5 per child), the most common ones being exposure to ototoxic substances, hyperbilirubinemia, and birthweight of less that 1500 g. In 27% of the children, peripheral auditory changes were found, and 13% did not respond to auditory stimuli. Low birthweight and young gestational age at birth, high serum concentration of bilirubin, sepsis, subependymal or intraventricular hemorrhage, mechanical ventilation, and exposure to ototoxic substances were significantly associated with the presence of severe or profound hypoacusis.