ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate residual hearing of children with sensorineural hearing loss in whom wave V was not found in ABR testing and to emphasize the importance of behavioral audiometry in determining the residual hearing.Methods Residual hearing obtained by behavioral audiometry of 101 children with SNHL was studied in relation to the absence of wave V in both click-ABR and tone burst-ABR tests.Results All children have residual hearing of different degrees at different frequencies.There appeared to be a higher percentage of lowfrequency residual hearing than middle and high frequencies.Also,the residual hearing at low frequencies appeared to be better than those in the middle and high frequencies.Average residual hearing thresholds in the right ears from 500 to 4 000 Hz were 106.81±7.13,110.00±7.90,111.78±5.22,112.06±7.08 dB HL and those in the left ears were 98.01±3.98,111.30±7.18,112.06±7.08,108.33±7.23 dB HL.Conclusion The absence of wave V in ABR does not mean total deafness.For those children with no wave V in ABR,behavioral audiometry must be conducted to determine children's behavioral hearing thresholds in order to know their residual hearing.