Auditory brain stem responses in rhesus monkey with otitis media with effusion.

Auditory brain stem response (ABR) tests were conducted on 17 anesthetized juvenile rhesus monkeys. Recordings were obtained for 13 control ears without otitis media with effusion (OME) and seven experimental ears with OME. The results demonstrated an increase in response latencies for the experimental ears with OME at each of four stimulus presentation levels (80, 60, 40, and 20 dB hearing level). Interwave latencies were the same for both groups of ears. The results suggest an average 25-dB peripheral loss of predominantly middle ear origin associated with OME. The ABR appeared to be a viable technique for documenting auditory impairment associated with OME in this nonhuman primate model.