Auditory Findings in 53 Cases of Acoustic Neuromas

Audiology has contributed significantly to the differential diagnosis of acoustic neuromas. In the past, the only widely accepted auditory criterion suggesting the presence of an acoustic neuroma was a unilateral sensorineural type of hearing loss. Attempts have been made to establish a particular type of frequency loss pattern with the presence of a neuroma. Eggston and Wolff,1Schuknecht,2Cambon and Guilford,3and many others have equated elevated low frequency loss and near normal high frequency patterns with the possibility of an acoustic neuroma. The present study of 53 surgically confirmed cases did not support this contention. Many investigators, including Hallpike and Hood,4Carhart,5Pestalozza and Cioce,6and Palva7have established the fact that excessive adaptation to a pure tone stimulus is most frequently associated with retrocochlear problems. As long ago as 1893, Gradenigo8wrote that a vibrating tuning fork could be heard