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The clinical application of oto-acoustic emissions in paediatric audiological assessment
1Waltham Forest Health Authority, Hearing Assessment Centre, Hurst Road Health Centre, London.
Insights
Otoacoustic emissions provide an objective measure of infant hearing. This audiological test is valuable for diagnosing normal peripheral auditory function in infants, especially when traditional methods are unreliable.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Objective audiological screening is crucial for infants.
- Traditional hearing tests can be unreliable in certain pediatric populations.
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) offer a non-invasive method to assess cochlear function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of otoacoustic emissions in infants with audiological dilemmas.
- To determine if OAEs can confirm normal peripheral auditory function in challenging pediatric cases.
Main Methods:
- Utilized otoacoustic emissions testing.
- Applied OAEs to three specific pediatric groups: non-organic hearing loss, severe learning difficulties, and central nervous system damage with abnormal auditory brainstem response.
Main Results:
- Otoacoustic emission testing proved diagnostically useful across all three groups.
- OAEs successfully identified normal peripheral auditory function, resolving audiological dilemmas.
- This objective measure aided in differentiating true hearing loss from other conditions.
Conclusions:
- Otoacoustic emissions are a valuable tool in pediatric audiology and ENT clinics.
- OAEs help overcome limitations of subjective hearing tests in infants and children.
- The findings support the use of OAEs for confirming normal peripheral hearing in complex cases.
Abstract:
The value of otoacoustic emissions as an objective screening test for normal peripheral auditory function in infants is currently the subject of extensive and promising research. Additionally the measurement of cochlear emissions is potentially useful when children cannot be tested reliably by traditional subjective methods but confirmation of normal hearing is diagnostically important. Three groups of children are described who present such audiological dilemmas: children with non-organic hearing loss, children with severe learning difficulties and more rarely children with an abnormal auditory brainstem response who also have damage to the central nervous system. In all three groups otoacoustic emission testing was found to be diagnostically useful in determining normal peripheral auditory function thereby resolving some of the dilemmas facing paediatric audiology and ENT clinics.