title: BAER testing in a dog with bilateral external ear canal atresia.
abstract: A 3 yr old male castrated Labrador retriever presented for evaluation and treatment of bilateral atresia of the external ear canals. The owners reported that the dog could hear only loud and high-pitched noises. Computed tomography of the head revealed intact vertical and horizontal ear canals filled with debris and a debris-filled right tympanic bulla. Air- and bone-conducted brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing revealed an elevated response threshold to air-conducted stimuli and greater amplitude waveforms evoked by bone-conducted stimuli. The ear canals were surgically corrected via lateral ear canal resection. BAER testing postoperatively revealed a decrease in the air-conducted BAER threshold. This case is an example of the use of bone-conducted BAER testing to aid in the diagnosis of conductive deafness, and in determining prognosis for normal hearing after surgical treatment of external ear canal atresia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA. canwer@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Cona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anwer
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Susan W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vite
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D004285:Dogs; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000002:abnormalities*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male