Otoacoustic emissions testing in young children: Middle-ear influences

Evoked-emissions testing offers a number of advantages as a method of objectively determining the status of the most fragile receptor cells of the cochlea, the outer hair cells. The benefits of the otoacoustic-emissions examination are particularly applicable to the testing of young children who are notoriously difficult to evaluate, because of their inability to provide reliable behavioral test results. However, because of the crucial dependence of emission levels on the healthiness of the middle-ear conduction apparatus, some of the ear problems commonly experienced by this group of young patients confounds the interpretation of measures of evoked otoacoustic emissions.