Audiological Profile of a Child with Landau–Kleffner Syndrome: A Clinical Case Study

Introduction: Landau–Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a childhood language disorder characterized by the most frequently described forms of acquired epileptiform aphasia. LKS is a rare age-related epileptic encephalopathy that usually occurs between 3 and 7 years of age in children with previously normal speech and language development until the onset of convulsion. The prevalence of LKS is unclear. However, it is male predominance exits with 2:1. Various literatures reported that LKS syndrome has auditory processing impairment and few may have hearing loss, but symmetry and magnitude of hearing loss were unexplained. Aim: Audiological profile of a child with LKS: A clinical case study. Materials and Methods: All audiological tests such as tuning fork test, otoscopic examination, pure-tone audiometry, immittance audiometry, otoacoustic emission, and auditory brainstem response tests were administered. Results: Audiological objective diagnostic test indicated that LKS syndrome has normal hearing sensitivity in both the ears. Conclusion: Postlingual communication skills may get severely hampered in LKS. Hence, the inclusion of audiological diagnostic test battery will increase the chances of early identification, accurate referral, diagnosis, and monitoring of a child with LKS which is extremely important for a positive prognosis. Finally, it is important to remember the genetic nature of LKS syndrome and its effect on communication. Educational planning should take the prospect of future postlingual speech disorder into consideration.