The audiological characteristics of infants with abnormal TEOAE and normal ABR

OBJECTIVE To study the audiological characteristics of infants with abnormal transient evoked otoacoustic emission(TEOAE) and normal auditory brainstem response(ABR). METHODS Fifty-three infants with totally 81 ears whose TEOAE screening results were refer but with normal diagnostic ABR results were studied. The relationship between ABR and other hearing testing methods, including 40Hz auditory event related potential (40 Hz AERP), auditory steady state response (ASSR), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), tympanometry and acoustic reflex, was analyzed. RESULTS Of the 81 ears, 18 ears (22.2%) were normal, while 63 ears (77.8%) were abnormal in those tests. Among the test with 40 Hz AERP (36 ears) and ASSR(45 ears), 14 ears (38.9%) and 27 ears (60.0%) were abnormal respectively. Among the test with DPOAE for 68 ears, 50 ears (73.5%) were abnormal. Among the test with tympanometry (50 ears) and acoustic reflex(47 ears), 9 ears (18%) and 27 ears (57.4%)were abnormal respectively. CONCLUSION It is insufficient to evaluate the hearing of infants with ABR only. It is necessary to evaluate it with integrative audiological testing methods.