Auditory brainstem responses in ears with hearing loss: case studies

Auditory brain stem evoked responses (ABRs) were recorded from six selected adult patients with various audiometric configuration, histories, and diagnoses. Although none of the patients were diagnosed medically as having retrocochlear disease, ABR latencies and waveform morphology were considered abnormal in some cases. By contrast, other patients with similar hearing loss configuration yielded normal ABRs. These observations emphasize the potential difficulty encountered in the interpretation of ABRs when hearing loss exists. Further, because ABRs and all other special auditory tests are not diagnostic extreme caution should be exercised prior to any definitive interpretation and subsequent diagnosis.