[Prognostic significance of auditory brainstem responses in full-term newborn infants with intracranial hemorrhages].

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) was recorded in 41 full-term newborn infants with intracranial hemorrhages (ICH; 10 infants with and 31 infants without neurological sequela) and the data were compared with those obtained in normal full-term newborn infants as controls. The wave-I peak latency was significantly prolonged in the non-sequela group than in the control group and in the sequela group than in the non-sequela group. The wave-III and wave-V peak latencies were significantly prolonged in the ICH group (sequela and non-sequela groups) than in the control group but did not significantly differ between the sequela and non-sequela group. The wave I-V interpeak latency did not significantly differ among the three groups. Among 10 infants in the sequela group, 9 had a V/I amplitude ratio (the amplitude of wave-I divided by the amplitude of wave- V) of less than 1.0. This suggests that the V/I amplitude ratio is of prognostic value in ICH infants.