Ear subunits correlation with ABR in microtia (Widodo & Zizlavsky, 2024)

Purpose: The association between microtia severity and hearing function has been thoroughly investigated. This study examined the relationship between microtia grade, number of ear subunits (i.e., helix, antihelix, scapha, triangularis fossa, concha, lobule, tragus, and antitragus) with auditory brainstem response (ABR) findings in children with microtia.Study Design: A retrospective chart review was employed in this study.Method: We analyzed the ABR test results and photographs of 22 children with 30 microtia ears at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Hospital, Jakarta. The ABR test results were acquired using click (air conduction only) and 500-Hz tone burst stimuli (air- and bone-conduction). Ear photographs were overlaid with a template of a normal ear to determine the number of ear subunits present and the subsequent microtia grade. Number of ear subunits and ABR results were analyzed using the chi-square, Mann–Whitney U, and Spearman’s correlation tests.Results: ABR thresholds for click and 500-Hz tone bursts air-conduction were significantly poorer for ears with a subunit < 5 compared to ears with a subunit ≥ 5. No significant difference was observed in 500 Hz bone-conduction ABR thresholds between these groups. Correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between increased ear subunits and click ABR thresholds. No significant correlation was found between ear subunits and 500-Hz air- and bone-conduction ABR thresholds.Conclusions: A higher number of ear subunits are associated with a lower hearing threshold, as assessed using ABR with click stimuli. Therefore, the number of ear subunits and microtia grades can be used to examine the hearing level thresholds in infants and children with microtia.Supplemental Material S1. Individual characteristics of infant and children with microtia.Widodo, D. W., & Zizlavsky, S. (2024). Correlation of grading and number of ear subunits with auditory brainstem response findings in children with microtia. American Journal of Audiology, 33(2), 503–509. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJA-23-00162

研究目的：小耳畸形（microtia）严重程度与听力功能的关联已得到广泛研究。本研究探讨了小耳畸形分级、耳亚单位数量（即耳轮（helix）、对耳轮（antihelix）、耳舟（scapha）、三角窝（triangularis fossa）、耳甲腔（concha）、耳垂（lobule）、耳屏（tragus）及对耳屏（antitragus））与小耳畸形患儿听觉脑干反应（auditory brainstem response, ABR）结果之间的关系。
研究设计：本研究采用回顾性病历回顾法。
研究方法：本研究分析了雅加达西普托·曼昆库苏莫国家医院（Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Hospital）22名患儿共30只小耳畸形耳的ABR检测结果与耳部照片。ABR检测采用仅气导短声刺激（click）以及气导、骨导500Hz短音爆发刺激（500-Hz tone burst stimuli）。通过将耳部照片与正常耳模板叠加，确定现存耳亚单位数量及对应的小耳畸形分级。采用卡方检验（chi-square）、曼-惠特尼U检验（Mann–Whitney U）及斯皮尔曼相关检验（Spearman’s correlation tests）对耳亚单位数量与ABR结果进行分析。
研究结果：耳亚单位数量<5的患耳，其短声气导与500Hz短音爆发气导ABR阈值显著差于亚单位数量≥5的患耳。两组间500Hz骨导ABR阈值无显著差异。相关分析显示，耳亚单位数量增加与短声ABR阈值呈显著负相关；耳亚单位数量与500Hz气导、骨导ABR阈值无显著相关性。
研究结论：采用短声刺激的ABR评估结果显示，耳亚单位数量越多，听力阈值越低。因此，耳亚单位数量与小耳畸形分级可用于评估小耳畸形婴幼儿及儿童的听力阈值水平。
补充材料S1：小耳畸形婴幼儿及儿童的个体特征。
Widodo, D. W., & Zizlavsky, S. (2024). 小耳畸形患儿分级与耳亚单位数量及听觉脑干反应结果的相关性. 《美国听力学杂志》（American Journal of Audiology）, 33(2), 503–509. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJA-23-00162