Brain Stem Response Audiometry in Infants

Abstract

The early components of the auditory evoked response averaged from the scalp were first reported by Sohmer et al. and also Jewett et al. These authors speculated that the source of the response was from the brain stem.
In this study, the possibility of routine use of brain stem response audiometry in infants is discussed and two cases, which could not be diagnosed other than with the brain stem response audiometry, are reported.
In general, the characteristics of the brain stem response are as follows.
1. The response threshold is very close to subjective hearing level. In this study, brain stem response threshold were 10dBSL resubjective hearing level.
2. The Vth wave shows the highest amplitude and has the high reproducibility.
3. Response is not affected by the level of conciousness of the patient.
4. The technique of testing is simple.
These characteristics are very convienient for objective audiometry both in adults and infants.
However, the source of the brain stem response has not been elucidated as yet and further investigations are necessary.