[The role of brain stem evoked potentials in acoustic neuroma screening and diagnosis].

For acoustic tumours > 2 cm the sensitivity of brainstem evoked auditory potentials (BAEP) to detect the retrocochlear lesions is 100 % as for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). According to the literature the sensitivity for detection of retrocochlear pathology in tumours < 1 cm is estimated to be between 75 % and 95 %. In the MRI the sensitivity and specificity in such smaller tumours is reported to be 100 %. A normal result of the BAEP examination and for additional neurootologic tests helps to increase the rate of safe exclusion of retrocochlear pathology. By at this time not yet routinely available modifications of the BAEP examination and by additional neurootologic tests the sensitivity of the electrophysiological screening procedure can be brought up to nearly 100 %. Thereby their important role as the primary screening procedure can be re-established. Besides a possible detection of a retrocochlear lesion the BAEP together with the additional neurootologic test provide important information on the functional status of the hearing and equilibrium system. Possible safe indications for inclusion and for exclusion criteria of an MRI screening for individual patients will be provided and discussed.