Recording of brainstem evoked potentials and their association with gentamicin in neonates.

Brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) recording was used to screen presymptomatically the hearing of 200 neonates treated with ampicillin (100 mg/kg daily) and gentamicin sulfate (5 mg/kg daily). The study included 130 male and 70 female neonates; post-conceptional age ranged from 34 to 57 weeks (mean 42.36 weeks). We divided neonates into 2 groups according to duration of antibiotic treatment; group 1 consisted of 179 patients who were treated with antibiotic agents for < or = 7 days. Although 15 (8.4%) in this group initially manifested abnormal BAEP recordings, only 8 of these brain-damaged neonates (4.5%) (6 with peripheral and 2 with central dysfunction) later manifested abnormal recordings. Group 2 consisted of 21 neonates who were treated for 10 to 30 days; BAEP recordings were abnormal in 7 patients (33.3%) (4 with peripheral and 3 with central dysfunction). We conclude that BAEP is indicated only for neonates treated with gentamicin sulfate for > 10 days. In this group, infants so treated usually have underlying disease or severe infection, including birth asphyxia, hypoxia, sepsis, and meningoencephalitis, all of which are clinically significant indicators of high risk for auditory pathway dysfunction.