Newsgroups: bit.listserv.autism
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 07:54:54 PST
              <AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET>
From:         Edward Tam <etam@DELTA.TYMNET.COM>
Subject:      News clip to share

BW249   JAN  4,1993      15:33  PACIFIC      18:33  EASTERN

( BW)(UCSF/HEARING-TEST) New high-tech hearing test at UCSF means
improved evaluation of patients who are difficult to diagnose

   News Editors, Medical/Health Writers

   SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eighteen-year-old Jason Panagotacos
suffers from both cerebral palsy and autism.
   He has trouble sitting still, and his  "speech"  is limited to
sounds.
   Because of his disabilities Jason cannot provide reliable feedback
during a standard hearing test, and even more sophisticated tests that
measure his brain's electrical signals in response to sound have been
unreliable in helping to determine his hearing ability because cerebral
palsy creates erratic brain activity.  For years his family and
teachers have lived with the frustration of trying to communicate with
him while never knowing if or what he really hears.
   Now a new high-tech hearing test available at UC San Francisco has
lessened this uncertainty.
   Called otoacoustic emission testing, the procedure involves putting
a miniature microphone in the ear canal.  The microphone picks up
sounds produced deep in the inner ear by a spiral-shaped organ called
the cochlea and transmits them to a computer, where they are recorded.
UCSF audiologists, or hearing specialists, then analyze the data to
determine the status of the patient's inner ear.
   UCSF is the only center in the Bay Area currently offering this
diagnostic procedure and conducting research on it.
   Otoacoustic emission testing, or OAE, can be especially useful in
differentiating a hearing problem caused by the brain from one caused
by the ear, said Robert Sweetow, PhD, director of the UCSF Audiology
Clinic.
    "Improving the diagnosis of a hearing problem means improving a
patient's individual treatment plan, which might include hearing aids,
listening training, or medical or surgical intervention,"  he added.
   OAE is based on the principle that a normal-functioning cochlea
produces its own active response to sound.  This discovery was made
by English physicist David Kemp in 1978, but only now is it becoming
a feasible tool for use in patient care.
   In an OAE test, the patient is stimulated with sounds at varying
pitches and levels of intensity.  The cochlea-produced response
indicates how well the cochlea is functioning, if at all.
   Vital to the hearing process, the cochlea contains thousands of
tiny hair cells that transform sound waves into electrical impulses
that stimulate the auditory nerve, which in turn sends them to the
brain where they are interpreted as meaningful sound.
    "OAE is a revolutionary new method for getting quality information
on the hearing ability of patients whose age or disabilities prevent
them from communicating with us," Sweetow said.   "Adding this
technique to our other clinical tests gives us the ability to evaluate
some children who have been our toughest cases and who we previously
could not effectively diagnose."
   An OAE test lasts less than a minute and requires no sedation, so
it is particularly advantageous for newborns and children who have a
hard time sitting still during a testing session.
   OAE testing also is useful for both children and adults whose
hearing test results have been inconclusive using other methods.  The
technique is important as one part of a battery of testing
procedures, for confirming other test data, and for providing
additional objective data, Sweetow emphasized.
   For Jason, OAE showed that even though he often doesn't react to
sound, his cochleas are not impaired and are working correctly, which
means that his ears are normal but his brain may not be processing
sound correctly, according to Sweetow.  Thus, a hearing aid would not
be appropriate for Jason, he added.
   Jason's mother, Diane, said it has been reassuring to finally have
definite information that can help determine appropriate treatment for
Jason and guide family members in how to interact with him effectively.
Test results also are helpful to his teachers at San Rafael High
School, where he is in a special education class.  Jason and his
parents live in Corte Madera.
   In the future, it is hoped that OAE can be adapted as a diagnostic
procedure for other hearing problems, including ringing in the ears,
known as tinnitus, a symptom reported by more than 36 million
Americans, Sweetow said.  Tinnitus is hard to treat because it is
difficult to determine the source of the ringing.
   About 22 million Americans -- both adults and children -- suffer
from significant hearing loss.

   --30--GAD/AC/sf

   CONTACT:  University of California, San Francisco
             Carol Fox, 415/476-2557

   KEYWORD:  CALIFORNIA
   INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  MEDICINE GOVERNMENT


REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or
         800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 213-380-8383




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