Abstract
Objectives To provide an introduction to the role of audiological evaluations with special reference
to patients with skull base disease.
Design Review article with case-based overview of the current state of the practice of diagnostic
audiology through highlighting the multifaceted clinical toolbox and the value of
mechanism-based audiological evaluations that contribute to otologic differential
diagnosis.
Setting Current state of the practice of diagnostic audiology.
Main Outcome Measures Understanding of audiological evaluation results in clinical practice and value of
contributions to interdisciplinary teams to identify and quantify dysfunction along
the auditory pathway and its subsequent effects.
Results Accurate auditory information is best captured with a test battery that consists
of various assessment crosschecks and mechanism-driven assessments.
Conclusion Audiologists utilize a comprehensive clinical toolbox to gather information for assessment,
diagnosis, and management of numerous pathologies. This information, in conjunction
with thorough medical review, provides mechanism-specific contributions to the otologic
and lateral skull base differential diagnosis.
Keywords
hearing - assessment - hearing loss - audiology - normal hearing
