Nam. Debeer et al., MIDLATENCY AUDITORY-EVOKED POTENTIALS AS INDICATORS OF PERCEPTUAL PROCESSING DURING GENERAL-ANESTHESIA, British Journal of Anaesthesia, 77(5), 1996, pp. 617-624
We tested the hypothesis that midlatency auditory evoked potentials (M
LAEP) can predict the occurrence of long latency AEP components (LLAEP
), which are taken as evidence for perceptual processing. Forty-one pa
tients undergoing cardiac surgery were anaesthetized with propofol and
alfentanil. During several periods of surgery we recorded LLAEP. Peak
-to-peak amplitude measures were used to determine if a particular LLA
EP recording trace contained a recognizable waveform. Both before and
after each LLAEP recording epoch, MLAEP and the spontaneous electroenc
ephalogram (EEG) were recorded. Peak latencies and amplitudes of brain
stem peak V and midlatency peaks Na, Pa, Nb, Pb and Nc, characteristic
frequencies from the spontaneous EEG, mean arterial pressure (MAP) an
d nasopharyngeal temperature (T) were compared between recording epoch
s with and without clear LLAEP waveforms. These variables were also us
ed in a discriminant analysis to predict the occurrence of an LLAEP wa
veform. Pa and Nb latencies were significantly shorter both before and
after recording epochs in which an LLAEP waveform occurred, compared
with epochs in which no LLAEP waveform occurred, Using a combination o
f up to six EEG, MLAEP, MAP and T measures, it was possible to predict
the occurrence or absence of an LLAEP waveform with a sensitivity of
89% and specificity of 86%. We conclude that MLAEP components provide
information on the possibility of perceptual processing during general
anaesthesia, and thus may be relevant for monitoring depth of anaesth
esia.