Newborn brain stem auditory evoked responses and perinatal clinical events.

The technique of brain stem auditory evoked electroencephalographic response testing was applied to 61 newborn infants in an attempt to study the potential influence of perinatal risk factors for hearing impairment and/or asphyxial brain damage. The results, althoug not conclusive, indicate that birth asphyxia and/or low birth weight may be associated with shortened latencies of evoked potentials. An efferent mechanism may account for this phenomenon.