Heart Rate Audiometry. Part I . An Evaluation of Heart Rate Response to Auditory Stimuli in Newborn Hearing Screening

Abstract

Heart rate response to auditory stimuli can be reliable elicited in normal newborn infants under appropriate conditions and was therefore evaluated in terms of its possible usefulness for hearing screening in this population. After development of a stimulus and procedure for eliciting this response, a series of newborn infants was screened. There were two conclusions: 1. the level of stimulation required to elicit a response suggests that this method does not yield sufficient information to be useful in the newborn period, although at 6 weeks post term it is useful, and 2. the neuroanatomical route for heart rate change in response to auditory stimulation does not require the presence of functional temporal cortex, and may therefore be clinically useful in differentiating between peripheral and central deafness.

Keyword

Newborn - hearing screening - heart rate