Auditory brain-stem responses in syphilis.

Analysis of auditory brain-stem electrical responses (BSER) provides an effective means of detecting lesions in the auditory pathways. In the present study the wave patterns were analysed in 11 patients with secondary or latent syphilis with no clinical symptoms referrable to the central nervous system and in two patients with congenital syphilis and general paralysis. Decreased amplitudes and prolonged latencies occurred frequently in patients with secondary and with advanced syphilis. This technique is a notable diagnostic advance in detecting syphilitic damage of the brain stem.