Auditory brainstem evoked responses in newborns with Down syndrome.
Auditory brainstem evoked responses (ABRs) were compared in 15 newborns with Down syndrome and 15 sex-, age-, and weight-matched control newborns. Participants had normal ABRs based upon values specific to 32- to 42-weeks postconceptional age. Although Wave III and Wave V component latencies and the Wave I-III interpeak latency (IPL) were shorter in ABRs of infants with Down syndrome, the Wave III-V IPL was not, pointing to anomalies in the lower rather than upper brainstem auditory pathways. Shorter Down syndrome ABR latencies have been reported at many ages. Extending these findings to newborns suggests that the underlying basis for this develops prenatally. ABR patterns in infants with Down syndrome were similar to reports for intrauterine growth restricted newborns.
New York Sate Institute for Basic Research in Development Disabilities, Psychology and infant development, Staten Island, New York 10341, USA. pkittler@gmail.com
Phyllis M
PM
Kittler
Ha T T
HT
Phan
Judith M
JM
Gardner
Inna
I
Miroshnichenko
Anne
A
Gordon
Bernard Z
BZ
Karmel
D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology