Measurements of brain-stem auditory evoked potentials in infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

Brain-stem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) were measured in 38 patients between 3 months and 18 years of age. In patients with blunt head injuries (N = 28; 73.7%) no significant correlation between BAEP changes and final outcome could be established until day 36 with the exception of wave III changes in 3 children. Because various BAEP abnormalities occurred in all outcome groups and the nature of the changes was transient, we conclude that within this age group there must be a higher resistance to various lesions until irreversible impairment of brain-stem function results. In spite of this result, continuous BAEP recording in this age group appears useful, since this noninvasive investigation represents an objective assessment of topical brain-stem function.