Hearing Test – ABR Series and Latencies (Brainstem Evoked Potentials)

• During the examination, silence is required, the subject cannot chew or swallow, and the eyes are closed to reduce visual stimuli.

• In young children, the examination is most often performed after feeding, while they are sleeping:
  1) During the night or early morning hours before the examination (before the usual waking time), it is necessary to wake the child and not allow them to fall asleep again until they arrive at the examination room, so that the child is sleepy and tired at the time of the examination.
  Care should be taken to ensure that the child does not fall asleep during the journey!
  2) The child should be slightly hungry upon arrival for the examination. For example, the child should eat their last meal in the evening and then again in the morning in the examination room before falling asleep.
  Feeding the child just before the examination increases the chances of falling asleep faster.

Recording of auditory brainstem responses (ABR).
Auditory potentials are recorded via air conduction. Two parameters are primarily analyzed: wave V latency and threshold.
The timing of wave V's appearance depends not only on the type of stimulus used but also on its intensity. As the stimulus intensity decreases, the response latency increases and the amplitude decreases. The wave V threshold correlates with the hearing thresholds determined in the audiometric test.
Based on the ABR response threshold for air conduction, the hearing threshold is estimated, which is, among other things, the basis for selecting a hearing aid for a young child.

This hearing test is used for both screening and diagnostic purposes. It can detect hearing loss in the middle ear, cochlea, auditory nerve, and brainstem.

Correct responses recorded by the computer indicate proper functioning of the auditory pathway up to the brainstem. They provide information not only about hearing threshold but also about conduction within the nervous system structures.

• suspected hearing loss in infants and young children,
• suspected auditory nerve tumor,
• suspicion of simulation of deafness or hearing loss,
• monitoring the course of selected neurosurgical operations,
• auditory neuropathy,
• an auxiliary test in the assessment of auditory processing disorders.

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