Abstract
The auditory brain-stem response (ABR) was correlated with age, cause of coma and prognosis in 157 comatose patients. It was found that changes in the ABR could not be attributed to the age or cause of coma. In the patients who recovered and the persistent vegetative state the one to five inter wave latency became shorter. In the patients who later died, the one to five inter wave latency was prolonged. The patients who showed no response or only wave one from the beginning of coma and those in whom the wave form increased with the latency all died. These findings suggest that the ABR may be important test for judging the prognosis in comatose patients.
