Use of brainstem auditory evoked potentials in pediatric brain death.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) were examined prospectively in ten clinically brain-dead and 13 comatose nonbrain-dead children. All clinically brain-dead children failed to demonstrate brainstem impulse transmission, displaying no waves or only wave I. The comatose, nonbrain-dead children maintained evidence of brainstem electrical activity, manifested by at least two waveforms. This suggests that BAEPs are a useful noninvasive method of supporting the clinical diagnosis of brain death in children.