Wideband Acoustic Immittance in Children

Navid Shahnaz; Sreedevi Aithal; Gabriel A Bargen

doi:10.1055/s-0043-1763294

Wideband Acoustic Immittance in Children

Semin Hear. 2023 Mar 1;44(1):46-64. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1763294. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Navid Shahnaz¹, Sreedevi Aithal^{2

3

4}, Gabriel A Bargen⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
² Department of Audiology, Townsville University Hospital, Townsville, Australia.
³ School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ School of Rehabilitation, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Idaho State University, Meridian, Idaho.

Abstract

As wideband absorbance (WBA) gains popularity, it is essential to understand the impact of different middle ear pathologies on the absorbance patterns as a function of frequency in children with various middle ear pathologies. More recently, the use of wideband tympanometry has enabled clinicians to conduct WBA at ambient pressure (WBA _amb ) as well as the pressurized mode (WBA _TPP ). This article reviews evidence for the ability of WBA measurements to accurately characterize the normal middle ear function across a wide range of frequencies and to aid in differential diagnosis of common middle ear disorders in children. Absorbance results in cases of otitis media with effusion, negative middle ear pressure, Eustachian tube malfunction, middle ear tumors, and pressure equalization tubes will be compared to age-appropriate normative data. Where applicable, WBA _amb as well as WBA _TPP will be reviewed in these conditions. The main objectives of this article are to identify, assess, and interpret WBA _amb and WBA _TPP outcomes from various middle ear conditions in children between the ages of 3 and 12 years.

Keywords: children; middle ear dysfunction; pediatric; wideband absorbance tympanometry; wideband acoustic immittance.

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