Article

Children born preterm often have neurodevelopmental problems later in life.
Abnormal maturation of the auditory brainstem in the presence of normal hearing
might be a marker for these problems. We conducted a meta-analysis of auditory
brainstem response (ABR) latencies at term age to describe differences in
auditory brainstem maturation between normal-hearing preterm and term-born
infants. METHOD: Computerized databases were searched for studies published
between 1995 and 2014 that reported ABR measurements at term age in infants born
preterm in a case-control design. Five peaks reflect the conduction of a neural
signal along the brainstem auditory pathway. We collected I to V interpeak
latency data, and III to V interpeak latency data, which refers to the more
central part of the pathway. RESULTS: Preterm-born infants' III to V interval is
significantly longer compared to infants born at term (0.081ms,
effect-size=0.974), which also reflects on the I to V interval. Moreover,
significantly increased ABR interpeak latencies of infants born preterm are
related to lower gestational age and the need for neonatal intensive care
treatment. INTERPRETATION: The delayed conduction time towards and into the
auditory brainstem at term age suggests atypical maturation of the brainstem in
normal-hearing infants born preterm. Both the duration of gestation and the
consequences of the preterm birth (intensive care needed) negatively affect
maturation of the auditory brainstem, which may influence later development.
CI - (c) 2016 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS