Auditory neuropathy/Auditory dyssynchrony - An underdiagnosed condition: A case report with review of literature

Auditory neuropathy (AN)/auditory dyssynchrony (AD) is a very often missed diagnosis, hence an underdiagnosed condition in clinical practice. Auditory neuropathy is a condition in which patients, on audiologic evaluation, are found to have normal outer hair cell function and abnormal neural function at the level of the eighth nerve. These patients, on clinical testing, are found to have normal otoacoustic emissions, whereas auditory brainstem response audiometry reveals the absence of neural synchrony. Unlike space-occupying lesions, radiologic evaluation reveals normal results. Patients with auditory neuropathy require a different management approach to their auditory and communication problems from approaches used with patients with usual peripheral hearing losses.