title: Audiological changes over time in adolescents and young adults with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.
abstract: Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) describes a condition in which a patient's otoacoustic emissions (OAE) are (or were at one time) present and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) are abnormal or absent. ANSD is also diagnosed based on the presence of cochlear microphonics and abnormal or absent ABRs with or without abnormalities of OAE. We noted the changes in audiological characteristics over time with respect to pure tone thresholds, OAEs and Speech Identification Scores (SIS) in seven individuals with ANSD. The results indicated that all the individuals with ANSD had decreased SIS over time, whereas there was subsequent reduction in pure tone thresholds only in nine out of fourteen ears. There was absence of OAEs for two individuals in both ears during the follow-up evaluations. There was no regular pattern of changes in pure tone thresholds or SIS across all individuals. This indicates that there may be gradual worsening of hearing abilities in individuals with ANSD. Thus, regular follow-up and monitoring of audiological changes are necessary for individuals with ANSD. Also, longitudinal studies need to be done to further add evidence to the audiological changes over time in individuals with ANSD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language and Hearing Science, College of Health and Human Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, hs0@purdue.edu.
authors.forename: Hunsur Suresh
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chandan
authors.forename: Prashanth
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prabhu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods; D018450:Disease Progression; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders; D006313:Hearing Loss, Central / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000502:physiology; D014481:United States; D000160:Vestibulocochlear Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D055815:Young Adult