[The differential diagnosis of cochlear, retrocochlear and central hearing disorders, and the limitations of conventional audiometry (author's transl)].

A review is made of the difficulties of audiometric diagnosis resulting from inadequate anatomical, physiological and pathological knowledge of the auditory system and from discrepancies in audiometric technique. Even with a broad battery of tests there is in 20-40% of cases an inconsistent audiometric pattern, which differs from the expected and typical cochlear eighth nerve, brain stem and cortical responses. These are demonstrated in presbyacusis, Meniere's disease, acoustic tumours, brainstem disorders and temporal lobe disease.