Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2016 Dec;59(12):831-835. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2016.59.12.831.

Valuation of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions and Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions in Tinnitus Patients with Normal Hearing

• Kim JT
• Lee HS
• Lee HR
• Choi HS
• Lee BD
• Hwang K

• KMID: 2368010
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2016.59.12.831

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
This study aims to verify that one of the causes of tinnitus is the malfunction of outer hair cells and, on the basis of this, to investigate the usefulness of otoacoustic emissions by performing transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and distor-tion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE).
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
Included in the study were forty-one patients who had normal hearing in the range from 0.5 to 8 kHz, and complained of unilateral tinnitus. In these patients, hearing in bilateral ears, TEOAE, DPOAE, as well as the frequency & amplitude of their tinnitus were measured.
RESULTS
No statistically significant difference was found in bilateral hearing in patients who complained of unilateral tinnitus. However, TEOAE and DPOAE showed a statistically significant difference with their p-values at 0.04 and 0.004, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggested that TEOAE testing and DPOAE testing provide an important clue for verifying that the loss of outer hair cells contributed to the development of symptoms suffered by tinnitus patients with normal hearing.

Keyword

Hair cell; Otoacoustic emissions; Tinnitus

MeSH Terms

Ear
Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer
Hearing*
Humans
Methods
Tinnitus*