Special Hearing Tests for Otoneurologic Diagnosis

THIS article is a very quick survey of a very complicated subject. It reviews the different auditory functions that occur central to the inner ear and that otoneurology can investigate for diagnostic purposes. It is probably fair to say that once the otoneurologist has assured himself that a patient's peripheral sense organs are normal, the main diagnostic thrust is directed to three problems. These are the searches (1) for acoustic neurinomas and analogous space occupying lesions, (2) for brain stem lesions which have produced vestibular symptoms, and (3) for cerebellar dysfunction. The focus of this diagnostic emphasis can be broadened by auditory tests so that otoneurology can make greater contributions to identification of neural lesions lying anywhere from the eighth nerve through the auditory cortex. Even though some of these lesions are relatively rare, the challenge before otoneurology is to develop techniques that can help to locate definitively damage throughout