[Value of neuropsychologic tests and acoustic evoked brain stem potentials in the prognosis of subjective complaints in patients with brain concussion].

Neuropsychological impairment and pathologically delayed Acoustic Brain stem Responses (ABR) have been found in patients examined after minor head injury. The relation of these alterations with the emergence of post-concussional symptoms is unknown. In this study 27 patients were examined with ABR within 48 hours of a clearly defined head injury and with a complete neuropsychological test battery one month after the trauma. They were checked for postconcussional symptoms such as headache, depression or dizziness one year later. ABR recordings were pathological in four patients. Neuropsychological testing showed no difference between patients and age-matched controls. No correlation was found between postconcussional symptoms and ABR and neuropsychological examination results, posttraumatic amnesia, and neurotic symptoms present before the trauma. Subclinical brain stem involvement as shown by ABR does not seem to correlate with symptoms of the postconcussional syndrome. This greatly limits the use of ABR in forensic medicine.