Accurate hearing assessment in children is crucial for early intervention.
Air-bone gaps on audiometry typically indicate sensorineural or conductive hearing loss.
Observation:
A severely hearing-impaired child presented with a significant air-bone gap across multiple pure-tone audiometry tests.
Exploratory surgery revealed normal middle ear function, contradicting the audiometric findings.
Findings:
Subsequent audiological evaluations identified the air-bone gap as a false positive.
The discrepancy was attributed to vibrotactile responses, where the child perceived bone-conducted sounds as tactile sensations rather than true hearing.
Implications:
Highlights the importance of considering vibrotactile responses in pediatric audiology.
Suggests specific test procedures are needed to differentiate true hearing from tactile sensation in challenging cases.
Emphasizes the need for careful interpretation of audiometric results, especially in severely hearing-impaired populations.