[Brainstem auditory evoked potentials applied to clinical neurology (author's transl)].

Pathological alterations of the brainstem auditory evoked potential in 5 patients suffering from different kinds of brainstem diseases (reversible tumorous infiltration of the brainstem, multiple sclerosis, mesodiencephalic syndrome, apallic syndrome, braindeath) are shown. The alterations resemble the findings of animal experiments reported by Buchwald and Huang 1975: The particular components of brainstem auditory evoked potentials (waves IV-V, III, II and I) may decrease in amplitude or even completely disappear. The components are affected in a sequential reversed order, i.e. if a particular component has disappeared or shows a significant latency increase, the subsequent components are similarly affected. These observations suggest that the particular components are generated by different structures of the afferent acoustic pathway. This underlines the usefulness of brainstem auditory evoked potential recordings in detecting brainstem disorders.