Recovery of Auditory Brain-Stem Responses after a Severe Hypoxic Ischemic Insult

WE describe a patient with severe hypoxic brain damage after near drowning, whose auditory brain-stem responses disappeared but subsequently reappeared. This case suggests that the loss of auditory brain-stem responses may be reversible and cannot be used as a criterion for brain death.Case ReportA 33-month-old boy was admitted to a local hospital after immersion in a lake for an unknown period. On arrival he had no pulse, but after cardiopulmonary resuscitation his pupils were reactive to light, although he was in a deep coma with flaccidity of the limbs. His temperature was 29°C, and his arterial pH was . . .