[Acoustically evoked brain stem potentials in infants at risk for SIDS with and without aminophylline therapy].

We investigated brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) in 20 infants at risk of SIDS (age 5 days to 4 months) and in 7 control infants (age 5 days to 4 months). 19 infants were diagnosed as having sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), which we consider to be a possible risk factor for SIDS. The diagnosis of SAS was made in general in the presence of clinical symptoms such as apneas, cyanosis during sleep, poorly coordinated sucking, swallowing and respiration and gastro-oesophageal reflux in combination with an abnormal pneumogramm in a one hour oxycardiorespirography. One infant had the history of a near miss event but a normal pneumogramm, 2 infants, both with SAS, were siblings of SIDS infants. We applied BAEP on 12 infants at risk of SIDS with and on 12 infants at risk of SIDS without aminophyllin treatment. 3 infants at risk of SIDS had two BAEP studies, one before and one during aminophyllin treatment. The time interval between these two studies was 1 week to 16 days. Aminophyllin, given only to infants with SAS was administered orally (therapeutic range 4-10 micrograms/ml). All infants at risk of SIDS and all control infants had normal I-V-IPL (below 2 x SD). There was a tendency to longer I-V IPL in infants at risk of SIDS. When infants at risk of SIDS with and without aminophyllin treatment were compared as a group the I-V-IPL was shorter in the infants with aminophyllin. BAEP can be useful in studying disturbances of the autonomic function of brainstem centers but do not allow the prediction of an individual SIDS risk.