Electrophysiological Assessment of Hearing in Children with Hydrocephalus

Introduction: Hydrocephalus is a disease that causes retrocochlear disorders and occurs when there is an imbalance between the production and circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. Increased intracranial pressure caused by hydrocephalus can cause changes in the central auditory pathway by compressing the fibers transmission and the generators of the auditory potentials.

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the occurrence of auditory disorders and the correlation between the results of ABR and ASSR in children with and without hydrocephalus.

Method: A total of 25 male and female infants until 12 months old were evaluated and divided into two groups: 10 in the study group (with hydrocephalus) and 15 in the control (without hydrocephalus). All infants were evaluated by ABR (integrity of auditory pathways research in 80 dBNA using clicks and electrophysiological threshold research using clicks and tone burst) and ASSR in the frequencies of 1000 and 4000 Hz.

Results: Changes have been found in search of the integrity of auditory pathways in the ABR of 90% of infants in the study group and in 13.3% of infants of the control group. The electrophysiological thresholds were normal for the ABR and the ASSR in all infants in both the groups, with no statistically significant difference between the thresholds obtained in electrophysiological frequencies tested.

Conclusion: Changes of ABR in this study were statistically greater in the group of infants with hydrocephalus, and these changes included increase of latencies of the waves III and V and all interpeaks of the ABR. There was no change in the thresholds obtained by the ABR and ASSR.