Unusual pattern of somatosensory and brain-stem auditory evoked potentials after cardio-respiratory arrest.
Two patients in coma after cardio-pulmonary arrest showed bilateral absence of all brain-stem auditory evoked potentials contrasting with normal brain-stem reflexes and normal somatosensory cortical evoked potentials. In both patients pre-existing dysfunction of peripheral auditory structures could be ruled out. Subsequent neuropathological analysis showed that the anoxic-ischaemic lesions were restricted to Sommer's sector and the Purkinje cells. These unusual data suggest the hypothesis that a severe hypoxic-ischaemic insult may impair cochlear function and interfere with the activation of the intact auditory pathways.
Brunko
E
E
Delecluse
F
F
Herbaut
A G
AG
Levivier
M
M
Zegers de Beyl
D
D
D000368:Aged; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003051:Cochlea; D003128:Coma / Q000503:physiopathology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007759:Labyrinth Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male