Transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions in patients with Menière's disease

Transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were stimulated using clicks or 1-kHz tone bursts in both ears of 31 patients with unilateral Meniere's disease. Using click stimuli, responses were present in 29/31 of the non-Meniere's ears and in 26/31 of the Meniere's ears. Stimulation using 1-kHz tone bursts produced responses in 30/31 of the non-Meniere's ears and in 28/31 of the Meniere's ears. Audiometric configuration strongly influenced the presence of TEOAEs in the affected ears. In all but 2 ears with average hearing sensitivity (0.5, 1, 2 kHz) poorer than 25 dB HL, responses were present only when accompanied by at least one pure-tone threshold better than 30 dB HL from 0.75 to 2 kHz. In the opposite ears, all of which had essentially normal hearing, responses were approximately 5 dB lower in level and contained fewer spectral peaks in comparison with results obtained from a normative database. Neither age nor pure-tone results could account for these differences. Thus, TEOAEs obtained from patients with Meniere's disease manifest features that may be considered as atypical either in comparison to results from ears with normal hearing or from ears with relatively flat sensorineural hearing losses due to other etiologies.