Detection of Neurotoxicity Through the Comparison of Jaundiced Infants with and without Blood Transfusion with Normal Infants: An ABR Documentation

Abstract

Objective: The main goal of this study is to examine the differences in response with click and chirp stimuli between infants with and without blood exchange transfusions and if there is a significant difference, this could be due to nerve damage, and therefore in these infants, it may also be indicative of future neural damage. Method: In this study, 59 infants (59 ears) of both sexes aged from 4 to 9 months were included as cases. Of these, 23 were healthy infants (16 boys, 7 girls), 20 were jaundiced (12 boys, 8 girls), and 16 were infants with jaundice and blood exchange transfusions (7 boys, 9 girls). Auditory brainstem response test using click 100 µsec and chirp stimuli at 60dB nHL was done. Waves I, III, and V were marked using a cursor. The latency of the wave V and I - III, III - V, and I - V latency intervals were recorded. Results: Findings of the present study showed that the latency times obtained with the chirp stimulus have a shorter latency than the click. Another notable finding in this study was the increasing trend of latency of all waves with chirp stimulus that means in all the waves I, III and V with the use of chirp stimulus, blood transfusion group has the longest latency, followed by the jaundice group and the normal group, respectively. Conclusion: This finding is highly indicative of neurotoxicity in the blood transfusion group despite the passage of four months after treatment.