Aghil R.B1, Jayavardhana Arumugam2
BACKGROUND
Recent advances in perinatology have resulted in increased survival rate of preterm infants over the past two decades.
Sensorineural hearing loss represent one of the serious neurodevelopmental sequelae among preterm infants. Brainstem
Auditory Evoked Responses (BAER) is a noninvasive electrophysiological method for assessing the maturation of auditory system
in newborn.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Brainstem auditory evoked responses of 70 infants (35 preterm and 35 term) were recorded to analyse the impact of
prematurity. Absolute latency and interpeak latencies were recorded using “Intelligent Hearing System Smart-EP”. Student’s ttest
was used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS
The absolute latencies I, III, V and interpeak I-III, I-V were significantly prolonged among preterm babies (P value <0.05).
There was a significant increase in absolute latencies I, III, V and IPL I-III among preterm babies with comorbidities (P value
<0.05). Such difference in latencies was not seen among term babies with comorbidities.
CONCLUSION
Hence, it may be worthwhile to perform BAER recording in preterm babies and all babies with comorbid conditions to identify
hearing abnormities at the earliest.
