Brainstem auditory evoked potential wave V latency-intensity function in normal Dalmatian and Beagle puppies.
This study investigated whether Dalmatian puppies with normal hearing bilaterally had the same click-evoked brainstem auditory potential characteristics as age-matched dogs of another breed. Short-latency brainstem auditory potentials evoked by condensation and rarefaction clicks were recorded in 23 1.5- to 2-month-old Dalmatian puppies with normal hearing bilaterally by a qualitative brainstem auditory evoked potential test and in 16 Beagle dogs of the same age. For each stimulus intensity, from 90 dB normal hearing level down to the wave V threshold, the sum of the potentials evoked by the 2 kinds of stimuli were added, giving an equivalent to the alternate click polarity stimulation. The slope of the L segment of the wave V latency-intensity curve was steeper in Dalmatian (-40 +/- 10 micros/dB) than in Beagles (-28 +/- 5 micros/dB, P < .001) puppies. The hearing threshold was lower in the Beagle puppies (P < .05). These results suggest that interbreed differences may exist at the level of cochlear function in this age class. The wave V latency and wave V-wave I latencies differences at high stimulus intensity were different between the groups of puppies (4.3 +/- 0.2 and 2.5 +/- 0.2 milliseconds, respectively, for Beagles; and 4.1 +/- 0.2 and 2.3 +/- 0.2 milliseconds for Dalmatians, P < .05). A different maturation speed of the neural pathways is one possible explanation of this observation.
Veterinary Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Free University of Brussels, Bruxelles, Belgium. lcponce@ulb.ac.be
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D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001947:Breeding; D003638:Deafness / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values