The postauricular myogenic response in normal children and children with microtia.

The effect of the development of postauricular muscles on the postauricular myogenic response (PAR) was investigated in normal children and children with microtia. There were no differences between the PAR of normal children and that of the intact ear of children with microtia. The PAR obtained from the normal and microtic sides of children with unilateral microtia showed no significant differences as regards waveform, latency, threshold, or amplitude. Our findings suggest that the development of the postauricular muscle does not affect the PAR, and it seems difficult to explain the large individual variations in the PAR by intersubjective differences in muscle development.