| Abstract: | Objective.?To understand whether infants with depressed Apgar scores are at high risk of brainstem auditory impairment, we examined the relationship between brainstem auditory function during the neonatal period and depressed Apgar score.Methods.?Brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) were recorded from day 1 to day 30 in 145 term infants with Apgar scores?≤?6.Results.?For 1-min Apgar score none of BAER response wave latencies and interpeak intervals during the first 15 days correlated significantly with the score. On day 30, all wave latencies but no intervals correlated negatively with the score (all p?p?p??6.Conclusions.?During the neonatal period, only on day 3 after birth a depressed 5-min Apgar score is an indicator associated with central auditory impairment. A depressed 1-min score may be associated with later peripheral auditory impairment. |
