Cervical and Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials Test Results in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorders

Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder is a clinical disorder where the outer hair cell functioning is intact but the functioning of the auditory nerve is affected. Since, the 8(th) nerve is constituted by both the auditory and vestibular branch of nerve fibers, there are chances that the vestibular nerve might also be affected. Hence, the current study was carried out in order to determine the functioning of vestibular nerve in individuals with auditory neuropathy. A total of 11 participants were considered for the current study. Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs) and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) were administered using the conventional protocol. In all the participants (100%) the oVEMPs were absent whereas in 20 ears out of 22 ears tested (90.90%) the cVEMPs were absent. The results of the present study indicate a high incidence of vestibular involvement in individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders. Also, it necessitates the inclusion of vestibular tests in the test battery used to assess individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.