Nowadays, in our clinic, we can complement the conventional audiometry results with electrophysiologic exams. Not only does allow us to diagnose a peripheral hearing loss but also to differentiate cochlear, neural or central hearing loss. It led us to a new group of patients that presented changes in neural synchrony, with normal functions of the outer ear hair cells. This pathology is known as Auditory Neuropathy. Our study purpose is describe the audiologist characteristic of a patient with auditory neuropathy attended at "Centro de Docência e Pesquisa em Fonoaudiologia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo", correlating the study data with literature. The patient described is a 24 year-old person, with auditory neuropathy diagnosis, evaluated in our center in 2001. Interview, tonal audiometry thresholds, speech recognition, timpanometry, otoacustic emissions (OAEs) and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were applied. In this case we observed incompatible results in the tonal audiometric threshold and speech recognition tests, with objectives tests like OAEs and ABR, in which we found a hearing loss with important changes in the speech recognition test, of OAEs present and abnormal ABR. These data suggest a normal cochlear function and abnormal neural synchrony.
auditory neuropathy; hearing; hearing tests
