Real ear unaided responses in ears with tympanic membrane perforations.

This study evaluated 13 adult patients with tympanic membrane (TM) perforations in one or both ears. Probe microphone real ear unaided responses (REURs) for mean peak frequency and peak dB gain showed no substantial differences among patients, across ears with intact TMs, ears with TM perforations (regardless of size), or between measures taken before and after closure of the perforations. Inspection of individual differences in the patients' REURs, however, produced an interesting finding. The REURs of ears having small TM perforations did not differ from those with intact TMs, but the REURs for ears having larger perforations consistently revealed bimodal responses (two prominent peaks separated by a valley of at least 10 dB lower gain). Thus, size of the perforation affected the REURs.