title: Clinical application of brain-stem audiometry.
abstract: Based on the examination of 249 consecutive patients, the usefulness of brain-stem response audiometry in a major audiological clinic was evaluated. Auditory brain-stem responses were performed either for hearing threshold determination (67 patients) or for assessment of retrocochlear hearing loss (182 patients). The results demonstrate that ABR is a reliable method for the estimation of hearing thresholds in non-cooperative subjects. The rate of false positives was 5% and no false negatives were found. In combination with caloric testing, ABR is considered a valuable testing procedure in the audiological clinic and it may form the basis for submission to brain imaging examination when a suspicion of retrocochlear hearing disorder is raised. Concerning the diagnosis of retrocochlear hearing disorder, no false negatives have yet been found, while a rate of 13% of false positives has been indicated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parving
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001300:Audiometry, Evoked Response; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000159:Vestibulocochlear Nerve / Q000032:analysis; D000160:Vestibulocochlear Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis