Clinical significance of brainstem evoked response audiometry in patients with diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: Brainstem evoked response audiotry (BERA) is an objective, noninvasive, electrodiagnostic test that not only evaluates the functional integrity of the subcortical auditory pathway but also provides topodiagnosis of hearing loss. Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes pathophysiological changes in multiple organ systems. The brainstem auditory response represents a simple procedure to detect both acoustic nerve and central nervous system pathway damage. The objective of this study was to find the evidence of central neuropathy in diabetes patients by analyzing brainstem audiometry electric response obtained by auditory evoked potentials, quantify the characteristic of auditory brain response in long standing diabetes, and to study the utility of auditory evoked potential in detecting the type, site, and nature of lesions. Aims and Objectives: To compare the auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) of diabetic patients to those of age and sex-matched controls with respect to absolute latencies of waves I, III, and V. Materials and Methods: This study included 30 diabetic patients who were symptomatic for more than 2 years and 30 age and sex-matched control participants. The waveforms in ABRs were recorded and analyzed in each diabetic patient and control participant. Results: The mean absolute latency of wave I was found to be significantly increased in both ears at 90, 70, and 50 dB in diabetic patients compared to the control group, whereas the mean absolute latencies of wave III was significantly increased at 50 dB in both ears and at 70 dB in the right ear. In diabetic patients, the mean absolute latencies of wave V were significantly increased compared to control participants at 90 dB in both ears and at 70 and 50 dB in the left ear.