Diagnostic Value of Auditory Brain Stem Responses (ABR) in Differential Diagnosis Between Cochlear Deafness and Acoustic Neuromas

Abstract

The diagnostic value of ABR for the differential diagnosis between cochlear deafness (CD) and acoustic neuromas (AN) was investigated. The following ABR parameters against 80 dB click stimulation was compared between CD and AN; (1) incidence of presence of each wave, (2) wave I latency, (3) wave III latency, (4) wave V latency, (5) I-III interpeak latency, (6) I-V interpeak latency, (7) right and left latency difference of wave III, (8) right and left latency difference of wave V, and (9) ABR pattern. It was concluded that a battery of 6 latency parameters (3-8) is very useful for the differential diagnosis between CD and AN and therefore it can be expected to be used as a powerful tool for finding out the small size AN.