Meniere’s disease consists of the idiopathic syndrome of cochlear hydrops characterized by episodic vertigo, tinnitus, fluctuating hearing loss, and the sensation of aural fullness or pressure. Cochlear hydrops is associated with an undermasking phenomenon that can be observed during specialized ABR data collection using click stimuli mixed with a special type of high-pass masking noise and presented at a certain level. It is hypothesized that cochlear hydrops alters the response properties of the basilar membrane which results in reduced masking effectiveness of high pass noise on the ABR to click stimuli. This results in the undermasking phenomenon. There are several measures of an undermasked component that are used in the assessment of Meniere’s disease/cochlear hydrops. This innovative procedure, CHAMP, was developed in cooperation with the inventor, Manuel Don, Ph.D. at House Ear Institute.*
Measures of the Wave V latency change caused by the addition of the high pass masking noise are used in combination with amplitude measures to assess the presence and characteristics of an undermasked response. These data are compared to normative values to assist with analysis.
*Patent applied for.
