Brainstem auditory evoked potentials study in patients with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES To analyze the correlation between brainstem-auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) and nerve conduction (NC) studies in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the results from the subjects who received our neurological screening test including BAEP and NC studies. A DM group and a control group were applied. The DM group was subdivided 4 subgroups including neuropathy, non-neuropathy, infarct and non-infarct. RESULTS A total of 43 DM patients and 43 control subjects were included. The inter-peak latencies (IPL) IIII and IPL I-V of the BAEP showed a statistical significance between the DM and control groups. In the IPL I-III study, the DM neuropathy subgroup showed a statistical significance in either the DM non-neuropathy or control subgroup. The IPL I-III showed moderate correlation (correlation coefficient- 0.334) with tibial motor NC velocity. CONCLUSION Patients with DM have a prolongation in IPL I-III, especially in the neuropathy subgroup. This prolongation in IPL I-III would best be explained by acoustic neuropathy. The tibial motor, median sensory, and sural NC velocities correlated with the acoustic neuropathy in patients with DM.