[Possibilities of assessing cerebrovascular disease by audiometry: Comparison with Doppler ultrasound in the assessment of extracranial vascular occlusion (author's transl)].

Discrimination loss in the speech-audiogram (one-syllable test) was tested on 61 patients with cerebrovascular disease due to extracranial vessel stenosis in the area of the carotid artery distribution. In 44 of the patients (extracranial vessel stenosis or occlusion) the results were compared with the carotid angiogram and Doppler ultrasonography. There was agreement between loss of discrimination, localisation by angiography, ultrasound results and the relevant clinical findings in 32 of 36 patients. In 17 patients audiometry was performed before and after surgical reconstruction of the internal carotid artery. Among 13 patients in whom the results could be assessed, discrimination improved postoperatively in 11 (at least 20% in six, at least 10% in five). The combination of ultrasound and audiometry can be used as a screening method in unclear cases to evaluate suspected cerebrovascular disease, simplify indications for carotid angiography, and used serially, follow any further development of the vascular disease.