Auditory ERPs reveal brain dysfunction in infants with plagiocephaly

J Craniofac Surg. 2002 Jul;13(4):520-5; discussion 526. doi: 10.1097/00001665-200207000-00008.

Abstract

It is suspected that the developmental delay in school-aged children diagnosed as infants suffering from plagiocephaly is caused by the modification of the skull form. To detect possible cognitive impairment in these children, we examined auditory ERPs to tones in infant patients. The infants with plagiocephaly exhibited smaller amplitudes of the P150 and the N250 responses to tones than healthy controls. Differences between the patients and control subjects indicate that already at this early age the presence of the plagiocephalic skull signals compromise of brain functioning. The present data suggest that most of the plagiocephalic infants have an elevated risk of auditory processing disorders. In the current study we demonstrated, for the first time, that the central sound processing, as reflected by ERPs, is affected in children with plagiocephaly.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Audiometry
  • Brain / growth & development
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cognition Disorders / etiology
  • Cranial Sutures / abnormalities
  • Craniosynostoses / complications
  • Craniosynostoses / physiopathology*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Electrooculography
  • Evoked Potentials, Auditory / physiology*
  • Eye Movements / physiology
  • Female
  • Frontal Bone / abnormalities
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Occipital Bone / abnormalities
  • Parietal Bone / abnormalities
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Statistics as Topic