A Further Examination of the Use of the Stapedius Reflex in the Diagnosis of Acoustic Neuroma

Abstract

Criteria proposed by ANDERSON et al. for the diagnosis of early acoustic neuromas using the acoustic stapedius reflex were examined. Populations of normal hearers and subjects with sensorineural hearing losses were studied and yielded high false-positive detection rates by the threshold criteria. It is suggested that the threshold asymmetry of the reflex may be more useful than the absolute threshold.