Clinical Audiology

This paper is a collective effort to improve, update and add up-to-date data in the field of Audiology. A very large part of the original 1986 textbook has been retained, and modern developments in the field of audiology have been added, both in terms of international research and in terms of daily clinical practice.

The rapid development of Medical Technology has led to the refinement of various audiometric devices with direct electronic recording of test findings. Furthermore, the understanding of the functioning of the hearing system, as it came from the systematic basic research, resulted in the possibility of screening hearing in the newborn, offering a tool for the most early diagnosis and treatment of childhood hearing loss, with the final result the best prognosis for speech acquisition.In addition, the rapid growth of cochlear implants has made it possible to restore hearing in individuals (children or adults) with little to no hearing loss. This development allows the smoother integration of people with a very high degree of hearing loss or deafness in society. Finally, the awareness of auditory processing disorders, brought to the fore the patient and his symptom and gradually leads to the realization that the normal hearing threshold does not necessarily mean a normal perception of speech in the modern daily life of the person, which is becoming more and more noisy. […]