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) I-III 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.