Brainstem Auditory Evoked Responses in Partial and Generalized Seizures

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Abstract
This study presents clinical neurophysiologic evidence of altered upper brainstem function in patients with generalized epilepsy who do not otherwise differ clinically from the general population. While the differences in absolute latencies are not great enough to support the use of BAERs in routine evaluation, this data does support experimental studies implicating brainstem structures in the pathophysiology of primary generalized epilepsy. The lack of evidence of brainstem involvement in complex partial seizures may suggest a mechanism of seizure spread that is not dependent upon primary brainstem pathology, or may indicate that any brainstem abnormality in epilepsy may involve areas not mediating transmission of auditory stimuli and therefore not assessed by BAERs.