Pediatric applications of serial auditory brainstem and middle-latency evoked response recordings.

Serial auditory brainstem (ABR) and middle-latency (AMR) response recordings were made for 12 children (8 male, 4 female) ranging in age from 2 weeks to 10 years. A total of 40 ABR and 32 AMR assessments were carried out at bedside in varied hospital environments, including a pediatric intensive care unit (ICU), a neonatal ICU and an operating room. Clinical entities were distributed as follows: acute, severe head injury (5), hydrocephalus (2), meningomyelocele (2), hyperbilirubinemia (1), ototoxic drug overdose (1), severe developmental delay (1). Auditory evoked responses were applied in monitoring peripheral and central auditory system status, and contributed to medical, surgical and audiologic management. Abnormalities of the ABR were reversed in some children, such as those with hydrocephalus, with medical or surgical therapy. In other cases, such as a hyperbilirubinemic child, a marked ABR abnormality apparently reversed spontaneously. We present five cases to illustrate diverse applications of serial auditory evoked response measures in children.