Importance of Long Latency Potential in Pediatric Hearing Assessment

Abstract

Numerous researchers’ reports caution clinicians that infants with risk factors have reversible features of auditory dys-synchrony (AD). It is important for an audiologist to be able to differentiate such reversible condition or auditory maturational delay (AMD) from non- reversible AD. It is difficult to identify the exact nature and type of hearing loss in infants and toddlers with risk factors using routine audiological test battery as they present inconclusive tests results (ABR, BOA, OAE & Immittance) in a single assessment. So an appropriate test battery becomes essential in order to differentiate these mimicking conditions. Thus, the study was taken up with the aim to check the importance of LLR in pediatric hearing assessment, especially to differentiate AMD from AD and permanent hearing impairment. 55 infants/ toddlers (30 males & 25 females) were taken for the study with age below 2 years at the time of first evaluation. They were divided into four groups on the basis of ABR and LLR results. The results revealed that LLR is an important tool in differential diagnosis of different conditions that are likely to be encountered when dealing with the hearing assessment of pediatric population of infants/toddler less than 2 years of age. In LLR results large variability was observed across the subjects. So, it is recommended that the interpretation of LLR wave be cautiously approached especially with regard to the absolute latency. It is also recommended that rather than looking at the latency it would be better to look for the presence or absence of LLR for the differential diagnosis of different conditions.