['To investigate midlatency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEP) waveforms during recovery from anesthesia. The hypothesis was that MLAEP are sensitive variables to discriminate between states of consciousness and unconsciousness during emergence from anesthesia.', 'MLAEP were recorded in the awake state and during the wake-up phase from isoflurane anesthesia in 22 female patients undergoing ophthalmologic surgery. During emergence from anesthesia the changes in latency and amplitude of MLAEP components Na, Pa and Nb were compared with the awake level. The next day the patients were asked for explicit memory for the recovery period.', 'In 72% of the patients the MLAEP waveforms were completely suppressed during isoflurane anesthesia. When the patients responded and opened their eyes spontaneously 38 +/- 12 min after anesthesia, the latencies of Na (18.3 +/- 1.2 vs 17.6 +/- 1.3; P = 0.013) and Nb (47.4 vs 7.1 vs 44.7 +/- 7.8; P = 0.048) remained prolonged compared with awake values. In contrast, the amplitudes NaPa and PaNb had regained baseline level. Nine patients had explicit memory for the immediate recovery period. However, there was no difference for any MLAEP component between patients with and without memory at any time.'] Do midlatency auditory evoked potentials allow the prediction of recovery from general anesthesia with isoflurane?