High Frequency Tympanometry in Early Infancy and Its Effect on Oto Acoustic Emissions

The present study was conducted to study the benefit of high frequency tympanometry (HFT) in detecting middle ear pathologies in infants. This study also aims to find the effect of middle ear diseases on absent otoacoustic emissions (OAE). Our study was a prospective study which included 123 healthy neonates below 1 month of age. The babies were referred for the new born hearing screening programme. They were subjected to DPOAE followed by tympanometry with a 1000z probe tone (HFT). The study was approved by the institutions ethical committee. "Present" OAE result was obtained for 202 ears, while "absent" OAE result was obtained for 44 ears. High frequency tympanometry was also performed on all the participants, where a normal tympanogram was obtained in 170 ears and 76 ears showed an abnormal tympanogram. The following parameters were studied: peak pressure, ear canal volume and compliance. Descriptive statistics were obtained for the same. Association of OAE with HFT was studied. Out of the 44 ears with refer OAE, 34 ears had an abnormal tympanogram and among 202 ears with a present OAE, 160 ears had a normal tympanometric peak indicating a sensitivity and specificity of 77.3% and 79.2% respectively. High frequency tympanometry not only helps in early detection of middle ear pathologies but also to find the effect of middle ear diseases on absent otoacoustic emissions.