Objective To study the clinical findings and audiological characteristics of auditory neuropathy. Methods Clinical findings, pure tone threshold, acoustic impedance audiometry, speech audiometry, auditory brainstem response (ABR) and distortion product otoacoustic emission( DPOAE) were analyzed in 23 cases of auditory neuropathy. Results The patients were predominantly youngster, female more than male. Pure tone audiometry revealed mainly binaural symmetric upward - sloping audiogram with mild and moderate hearing loss at low frequencies. Speech discrimination score was obviously reduced, which was disproportionately to the pure tone threshold. Ipsilateral and contralateral stapedial reflex were absent. ABR was severely abnor- mal. DPOAIE was normal or nearly normal. Conclusion Clinical findings and systemic audiometry revealed the main characteristics of auditory neuropathy, which could be used not only for the understanding, but also for the diagnosis of this disease.