Clinical interpretations of transient otoacoustic emissions

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the relation of different ordinal patterns of transient otoacoustic emissions (TEOAES) with respect to underlying otologic disorders and auditory status. Patients and Methods: The results of TEOAEs in 225 patients with various auditory disorders were investigated and compared with normative data established from 90 subjects of various ages. TEOAEs were categorized according to four patterns: (1) normal (general response level within 90% of normative data, (2) reduced amplitude (general response level was ≥2 dB peak sound pressure level (pSPL), but less than the mean −1.64 SD of the normative data), (3) abnormal morphology of frequency spectrum (general response level was within normal limits, but reduced at ≥2 individual octave frequencies between 1,000 and 5,000 Hz), and (4) total absence (response level