If air conduction and bone conduction thresholds are equal, what does this indicate?

When air conduction and bone conduction thresholds are equal, this indicates that both types of sound transmission are functioning at the same level, suggesting that the pathway for sound is intact through both the outer and middle ear. This scenario typically reflects normal hearing or a lack of conductive hearing loss, which would be present if there were dysfunction in the middle ear, such as fluid, blockage, or value failure.

While equal thresholds imply that the inner ear is functioning well, it is primarily the absence of issues within the middle ear that leads to this conclusion. Therefore, it is accurate to state that there is no middle ear dysfunction when both air conduction and bone conduction thresholds are the same. Other conditions, such as inner ear or auditory nerve issues, do not manifest as equal thresholds because they would present with discrepancies between air and bone conduction measurements.