Aural temperature of the newborn infant.

The aural, oesophageal, and rectal temperatures of 10 term infants were monitored during changes in environmental temperature. The aural temperature in normal infants was found to be consistently higher than at any other site. It is suggested that this finding is due to the local heating effect of brain metabolism and shows the important contribution to total body heat production made by the brain. The depressed aural temperature found in an infant with hydranencephaly is cited as supporting evidence and may indicate the potential of aural temperature measurement in the investigation of cerebral metabolism.