Clinical Significance And Diagnostic Value Of Auditory Bone Threshold: Some Critical Considerations

Abstract

The author surveys the main conditions which lead to a variation of the BC auditory threshold, although lesions of the sensorineural inner ear epithelium may not be shown. The author's criticism of the value commonly assigned to BC threshold impairments is also supported by the results yielded by a scheme of medical therapy in some caszs of sensorineural deafness, even lasting since more than 2 years before the treatment. It ensues that a BC threshold elevation should not be considered, as a rule, the expression of an irreversible damage of the inner ear sensory cells. The argument, which holds practical implications mainly from a diagnostic and surgical standpoint, is still the object of experimental and clinical research.