Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials with and without Increased Stimulus Rate as Diagnostic Tool in Brainstem Minor Transient Changes

Abstract

Two clinical groups of patients – 25 with Parkinson’s disease and 17 with migraine – were evaluated using brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) to regular (10/s) and increased (55/s) stimulus rates. Each group of patients had an age-matched control group. The BAEP data were statistically evaluated, comparing the data of migraine patients during and between migraine spells, and the parkinsonian patients before and after L-dopa treatment. We believe that when group data are compared BAEP to an increased stimulus rate is an efficient tool for detecting even minor transient reversible physiologic changes of the brainstem.

Auditory brainstem response in pediatric migraine: During the attack and asymptomatic period

“…While some authors observed no abnormalities in brainstem responses [23,25,28], others have described some alterations of brainstem functions in migrainours [7,26,27,[29][30][31]. In this study, we aimed to document if any hearing changes were present in children suffering from migraine during or/and between migraine attacks.…”

“…They found onset of hearing loss only on the left side or more dominant on the left side in right-handed migraine patients [1]. Additionally, Bussone et al [25] and Schlake et al [30] also showed inter-ear asymmetries of IPLs and PLs in migraine patients. However, they did not specify elongation of the wave for any ear.…”

“…Auditory hallucinations, tinnitus, fluctuating hearing loss, phonophobia and sudden deafness are previously reported auditory symptoms [1,5,6,[18][19][20][21][22]. Because of ABR latency variables seem to be a sensitive measures of auditory dysfunction, hearing parameters in migraine has been studied with ABR in the relevant literature [7,13,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. In Table 6, we summarized findings of the studies which evaluate the auditory alterations of migrainours with ABR.…”

“…By that way they modify the activity of midline structures of brainstem that causes transitory hearing differences. In few investigations, the hearing status have been evaluated during migraine attack [27][28][29][30]. Although the manifestations of migraine initiate in infancy and proceed to late life, auditory system involvement has not been studied by ABR in pediatric age group during attack period.…”

Evoked potential changes in patients with Parkinson's disease

“…Podoshin et al. Podoshin, Ben‐David, Fradis, and Pratt (1987) and Fradis et al. Fradis et al., (1988) found no significant differences of BAEP between patients with PD under dopaminergic drugs treatments and those without treatment.…”