Measurement of thresholds using Chirp-ABR in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder and sensorineural hearing loss

Aim

This study explored the value of Chirp-auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds in assessing the hearing threshold of children diagnosed with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD).

Methods

A total of 20 children with ANSD (40 ears, aged 1.5–7.0 years, median age 4.5 years) and 31 children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) (52 ears, aged 0.9–8.0 years, median age 3.7 years) were included. Besides, 25 normal children (50 ears, aged 0.8–7.5 years, median age 4.6 years) were used as controls. Chirp-ABR and behavioral audiometry were performed simultaneously among three groups of children, allowing for a comparison of the thresholds obtained through both methods.

Results

In ANSD children, the correlation (r-values) between the thresholds obtained from Chirp-ABR and behavioral audiometry at 500–4000 Hz were 0.84, 0.67, 0.59, and 0.60, respectively. The average threshold differences between two methods ranged from 9.7 to 13.3 dB at 500–4000 Hz. Notably, 20 % ears (8/40) exhibited considerable discrepancies (>30 dB) in thresholds at certain frequencies. For SNHL children, the r-values between two methods were 0.84, 0.89, 0.92, and 0.93, respectively. The average threshold differences between two methods were 5.7–8.2 dB at 500–4000 Hz. Similarly, in normal children, the average threshold differences between two methods ranged from 6.1 dB to 7.7 dB, the r-values were 0.81, 0.78, 0.80, and 0.80 at 500–4000 Hz, respectively.

Conclusion

Chirp-ABR threshold is not suitable to predict the behavioral audiometry threshold in ANSD children. When there is a significant discrepancy (>30 dB) between Chirp-ABR thresholds and behavioral audiometry thresholds in hearing loss, ANSD should be highly suspected.