Brain Stem Auditory-Evoked Responses

To the Editor.—  Stockard et al in the October 1976 issue of the Archives (33:726-728, 1976) indicate that recovery from clinically suspected central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) has not previously been reported. There have been two previous publications^1.2 of suspected CPM with recovery in an alcoholic patient and a heroin addict.While the authors suspect that brain stem auditory responses can help in the diagnosis of this disease, in fact, the electrophysiologic data simply confirm the localization of the lesion. In these and most cases, the localization is clinically obvious. As the authors correctly point out, the auditory-evoked responses in CPM may have their greatest value as serial tests that may have direct prognostic significance.³ This would assume particular importance in CPM and other potentially treatable conditions of the brain stem.