![]() ![]() A number of those patients may have been identified as auditory neuropathy, had OAE measurement been clinically at that time. Several past articles (e.g., Worthington and Peters, 1980 Kraus et al., 1984) presented the dilemma of patients with absent ABRs who were later found to have auditory function. OAE testing allows identification of those individuals with normal outer hair cell function despite showing abnormal ABRs. That has become possible primarily because of the broader clinical use of otoacoustic emissions in recent years. What is new is our ability to clinically identify the disorder and distinguish it from other problems. Is auditory neuropathy a "new" hearing disorder? Most patients identified who are old enough to provide subjective reports complain first of hearing difficulty1.ģ. ![]() Some patients appear to have only an auditory abnormality.Īmong the neurologic abnormalities identified in patients with auditory neuropathy are hereditary motor sensory neuropathy (HMSN, Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome), Friedreich's ataxia, gait ataxia, loss of deep tendon reflexes, and motor system disturbances. Some patients will report symptoms of other non-auditory peripheral neuropathies, while neurologic dysfunction in other patients is revealed only upon clinical neurological examination. Not all do, but the majority of patients have either overt or subtle neuropathies outside of the auditory system. ![]() Do patients with auditory neuropathy typically have other neural disorders? Patients with auditory neuropathy require a different management approach to their auditory and communication problems from approaches used with patients with usual peripheral hearing losses.Ģ. These patients are distinguished from patients with space-occupying lesions, such as VIIIth nerve tumors, or multiple sclerosis, in that radiological evaluation yields normal results and even the most peripheral responses from the VIIIth nerve are absent. These characteristics are observed on clinical audiologic tests as normal otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) in the presence of an absent or severely abnormal auditory brainstem response (ABR). Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centerĭepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Biocommunication and the Kresge Int +, Fax IntĪuditory neuropathy is a term presently used to describe a condition, found in some patients ranging in age from infants to adults, in which the patient displays auditory characteristics consistent with normal outer hair cell function and abnormal neural function at the level of the VIIIth (vestibulo-cochlear) nerve. Original Material From The Hearing Journal Auditory Neuropathy: Questions and answersĪuditory neuropathy: What is it and what can we do about it ![]()
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