Assessment of brainstem auditory evoked potential in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its correlation with glycemic control

Background: In this study we tried to assess the effect of type II diabetes mellitus on brainstem by recording brainstem auditory evoked potential and compare these findings with age and sex matched healthy individuals. Apart from this, we tried to assess the effect of glycemic control over brainstem in type II diabetic patients. Materials & Methods: It was a hospital based descriptive cross sectional study. In this study 50 diabetic subjects of more than 30 year age group were selected from the Diabetic Clinic of Medicine OPD of Bankura Sammilani Medical College from November 2017 to August 2018 by using convenience sampling. The age & sex matched 50 healthy individuals were also selected from hospital and departmental staffs and from the people attending general Out Patient Department (OPD) of Bankura Sammilani Medical College as control subjects. HbA1C level were measured once in diabetic group during this study. The HbA1C level was used for determination of correlation of HbA1C level with different parameters of BAEP in diabetic group. The HbA1C level was also used for determination of efficacy of diabetic control over brainstem involvement, for that reason the subjects in the diabetic group was divided into two sub- groups: HbA1C level < 7 % and HbA1C level > 7%. Results: Latencies of different waves are more in Diabetic patients than control, though significant differences were present in latencies of wave III and V. Interpeak latencies are more in diabetic patients than control group and significant differences are present in interpeak latencies of I –III and I –V. Latency of wave I is more in diabetic on OHA than Diabetics on Insulin and OHA, though there was no significant difference between two. Inter-peak latencies of I-III and I-V are more in diabetic on OHA and the results were significantly different. Conclusion: BAEP is non-invasive method of detection of CNS involvement even without symptoms. It can be used as screening of all type 2 DM patients to detect neuropathy even before appearance of symptoms. Insulin may have a role in prevention of CNS involvement Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP), glycemic contro