Luciane Ferreira Pauletti

Correlation of the findings of auditory steady-state evoked potential and of behavioral hearing assessment in infants with sensorineural hearing loss

PURPOSE To correlate the findings of an open-field audiometry with the thresholds of steady-state auditory-evoked potentials (SSAEPs) found in infants of up to 6 months of age with sensorineural hearing loss. METHODS This study included 19 infants with sensorineural hearing loss (8 males and 11 females), with minimum age of 2 months and maximum age of 6 months. The SSAEPs were assessed at 500 and 2000 Hz, and the audiometry was performed in open field through observation of behavioral responses to sound stimuli, at the same frequencies. RESULTS We observed a significant correlation between the findings of both tests conducted at 500 and 2000 Hz, with p-values of 0.002 and 0.013, respectively. There was no statistical difference between ears (p=0.532) and genders (p=0.615). CONCLUSION We conclude that there was a significant correlation between the SSAEP thresholds and the findings of the open-field audiometry. Therefore, we can affirm that the SSAEPs are a viable examination, able to predict the degree and configuration of hearing loss in infants of up to 6 months of age, and that they can be included in the clinical routine of hearing assessments conducted in children.

Estudo das medidas de imitância acústica com tom sonda de 226 e 1000 Hz em neonatos

PURPOSE: Study the measures of volume, peak pressure and complacency in tympanometric curves of neonates with gender, ears and tone probe of 226 and 1000 Hz and analyze the responses obtained in the survey of the acoustic reflections with the two tone probe tested. METHODS: transversal study, observational and contemporary. We evaluated 73 neonatal with integrity of outer hair cells observed by transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. The children performed the evaluation of measures of acoustic immittance clinical outcome, observation of the answers obtained in tympanometries and research of acoustic reflexes with tone probe 226 and 1000 Hz. RESULTS: We observed statistically significant difference between the curves of single and double peak, with a higher occurrence of single peak with tone probe of 1000 Hz. There was statistically significant difference between the genders as complacency in 226 Hz and between the ears in compliance measures and peak pressure in 226 and 1000 Hz, respectively. In addition, we found statistically significant difference in the average of the ipsilateral and contralateral acoustic reflexes with tone probe of 1000 Hz against the variable gender and ipsilateral and contralateral reflexes between the frequencies of 1000 and 2000 Hz with tone probe of 226 and 1000 Hz. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study showed statistically significant difference between analyzed variables with tone probe of 226 and 1000 Hz tone. The compliance values and reflexes were higher in females. All neonates had acoustic reflexes, and reflexes contralateral higher than the ipsilateral.