Publication:

Evaluation of brainstem auditory evoked potential in type 2 diabetes mellitus individuals

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of common metabolic disorders that share the phenotype of hyperglycemia. The long term complication of DM includes diabetic neuropathy, which involves both central and peripheral nervous system. Objective of the study was to assess’ diabetic neuropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus individuals using brainstem auditory evoked potential.

Methods This, study was carried out in the Neurophysiology Lab of Department of Physiology, Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital (GVMCH), Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, India. The BAEP was performed in 50 patients with type-2 DM selected from the Diabetic OPD without overt hearing loss along with 50 age and gender matched controls with the exclusion of other possible causes which can cause peripheral and central neuropathies. BAEP was statistically analysed using Student independent unpaired ‘t’ test by IBM SPSS software 19.0 version.

Results On analysis, the latencies I, III, V and Inter Peak Latencies (IPLs) III-V, I-V of BAEP revealed a significant difference between those of diabetes and those of controls (p<0.01).

Conclusions These data reveal that there was a delay in both the latencies and IPLs which signifies the involvement of both the peripheral and central nervous system. The early diagnosis of brainstem defects may lead to improvement in treatment modalities of DM and decrease its morbidity. Thus BAEP might be used as a non- invasive tool to assess diabetic neuropathy. Keywords: