Audiological profile in cases with cerebrovascular accidents

Abstract

Background: Over the past decades there has been increase demand of audiological complaints coinciding with neurological impairments due to cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs). Most of the cases represent inconsistent responses to acoustic stimuli or total lack of response to sound, documented as auditory agnosia. Aim: The present investigation aims at understanding of potential anatomical co-relates to the involvement of the cortical structure and the processing of auditory stimuli. Materials and Methods: A case series with convenient sampling method included eight cases (six male and two female) with age range 45-55 years with CVA, were taken for this study. Of them two cases were found with lesion in right middle cerebral artery, four cases with left middle cerebral artery and two cases with left posterior cerebral artery lesion confirmed from magnetic resonance imaging scan. Audiological test battery including otoscopy, tuning fork test, pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, immittance audiometry, dichotic-diotic listening test, auditory brainstem responses, otoacoustic emissions and gap detection tests were carried out including routine ENT evaluation. Results and Conclusion: Result suggests; there is a significant difference in hearing threshold and speech perception in all the eight subjects. The findings and compromised vascular anatomy in all these cases were discussed in this article.