Assessment of cortical evoked potential (P300) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) in post-COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on many aspects of human health. There has been a major influence on cognitive capacities, including memory, attention, and cognitive skills for planning, organizing, and solving problems. Furthermore, it appears that the effects of COVID-19 may also impact the auditory system. Objective To determine the effect of SARS-CoV-2 virus on both hearing and cognitive. Patients and methods Eighty participants, ranging in age from 20 to 59, will be evaluated for their auditory and cognitive abilities using the following methods: ABR using a click stimulus presented at 90 dBnHL at a rate of 21.1 c/s, followed by a rate of 71.1 c/s; cortical auditory evoked potential (P300) using a tone burst stimulus (50 ms) that will produce an oddball paradigm; measurements of the waveforms’ amplitude and latency will be made. Results ABR recording for both ears showed significant difference between cases and controls as regarding absolute latencies of wave I, III, V, wave V (high rate), amplitude (low and high rates), amplitude ratio, and interaural latency differences (III, I-III, I-V), while P300 outcomes showed a statistically significant difference between cases and controls regarding P300 latency (p < 0.05), while for amplitude, a highly significant difference was found. Conclusion COVID-19 can harm both the inner ear and the auditory pathway, and it has long-lasting effects on the auditory system and on cognitive processing and attention.