Low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss: a syndrome.

Eleven patients were found to have a pattern of bilateral, predominantly low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss and disproportionate speech discrimination scores. These patients were submitted to pure-tone audiometry, Arabic speech audiometry, immittance, auditory brainstem response, middle-latency response, Arabic central auditory tests, EEG and computerised tomographic (CT) scan. Results pointed to a lesion in the central auditory pathway. Two possible etiological factors were considered: infection and epilepsy of the temporal lobe. This disease pattern should raise the audiologist-otologist's index of suspicion necessary for its identification and planning of further investigations. This will help determine the etiology and true nature of the syndrome.