Suspicion of a chromosome abnormality is typically raised due to the presence of developmental delays or birth defects. Diagnosis of distal 18q- is usually made from a blood sample. A routine chromosome analysis, or karyotype, is usually used to make the initial diagnosis, although it may also be made by microarray analysis. Increasingly, microarray analysis is also being used to clarify breakpoints. Prenatal diagnosis is possible using amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.

A temporal-bone CT using thin slices makes it possible to diagnose the degree of stenosis and atresia of the external auditory canal, the status of the middle ear cavity, the absent or dysplastic and rudimentary ossicles, or inner ear abnormalities such as a deficient cochlea. Two- and three-dimensional CT reconstructions with VRT and bone and skin-surfacing are helpful for more accurate staging and the three-dimensional planning of mandibular and external ear reconstructive surgery.

A few techniques are used to confirm the diagnosis in TCS.

An orthopantomogram (OPG) is a panoramic dental X-ray of the upper and lower jaw. It shows a two-dimensional image from ear to ear. Particularly, OPG facilitates an accurate postoperative follow-up and monitoring of bone growth under a mono- or double-distractor treatment. Thereby, some TCS features could be seen on OPG, but better techniques are used to include the whole spectrum of TCS abnormalities instead of showing only the jaw abnormalities.

Another method of radiographic evaluation is taking an X-ray image of the whole head. The lateral cephalometric radiograph in TCS shows hypoplasia of the facial bones, like the malar bone, mandible, and the mastoid.

Finally, occipitomental radiographs are used to detect hypoplasia or discontinuity of the zygomatic arch.

If the medical history and the actual exam of the hemangioma look typical for PHACE Syndrome, more tests are ordered to confirm the diagnosis. These tests may include:

- Ultrasound

- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

- Magnetic resonance angiography of the brain (MRA)

- Echocardiogram

- Eye exam by an eye doctor

- Other tests may be needed for diagnosis and treatment

Imaging is usually not pursued in those with uncomplicated conductive hearing loss and characteristic clinical findings. Those with only conductive hearing loss are often treated medically or with surgery without imaging. The diagnosis may be unclear clinically in cases of sensorineural or mixed hearing loss and may become apparent only on imaging. Therefore, imaging is often performed when the hearing loss is sensorineural or mixed.

A high-resolution CT shows very subtle bone findings. However, CT is usually not needed prior to surgery.

Otosclerosis on CT can be graded using the grading system suggested by Symons and Fanning.

- Grade 1, solely fenestral;

- Grade 2, patchy localized cochlear disease (with or without fenestral involvement) to either the basal cochlear turn (grade 2A), or the middle/apical turns (grade 2B), or both the basal turn and the middle/apical turns (grade 2C); and

- Grade 3, diffuse confluent cochlear involvement (with or without fenestral involvement).

At present, treatment for distal 18q- is symptomatic, meaning the focus is on treating the signs and symptoms of the conditions as they arise. To ensure early diagnosis and treatment, people with distal 18q- are suggested to undergo routine screenings for thyroid, hearing, and vision problems.

The presence of dehiscence can be detected by a high definition (0.6 mm or less) coronal CT scan of the temporal bone, currently the most reliable way to distinguish between superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) and other conditions of the inner ear involving similar symptoms such as Ménière's disease and perilymphatic fistula. Other diagnostic tools include the vestibular evoked myogenic potential or VEMP test, videonystagmography (VNG), electrocochleography (ECOG) and the rotational chair test. An accurate diagnosis is of great significance as unnecessary exploratory middle ear surgery may thus be avoided. Several of the symptoms typical to SCDS (e.g. vertigo and Tullio) may also be present singly or as part of Ménière's disease, sometimes causing the one illness to be confused with the other. There are reported cases of patients being affected by both Ménière's disease and SCDS concurrently.

As SCDS is a very rare and still a relatively unknown condition, obtaining an accurate diagnosis of this distressing (and even disabling) disease may take some time as many health care professionals are not yet aware of its existence.

Current research is focusing on clearly defining the phenotype associated with tetrasomy 18p and identifying which genes cause medical and developmental problems when present in four copies.

Once diagnosed, the gap in the temporal bone can be repaired by surgical resurfacing of the affected bone or plugging of the superior semicircular canal. These techniques are performed by accessing the site of the dehiscence either via a middle fossa craniotomy or via a canal drilled through the transmastoid bone behind the affected ear. Bone cement has been the material most often used, in spite of its tendency to slippage and resorption, and a consequent high failure rate; recently, soft tissue grafts have been substituted.

Treatment of otosclerosis can be understood basically under three heads : medical, surgical and amplification.

Suspicion of a chromosome abnormality is typically raised due to the presence of developmental delays or congenital malformations. Diagnosis of tetrasomy 18p is typically made via a routine chromosome analysis from a blood sample. The diagnosis can also be made prenatally by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis.

Severity of tetrasomy 18p is variable. Individuals with mosaicism are typically less severely affected than non-mosaic individuals.

The diagnosis of this syndrome can be done via the test "Branchiootorenal syndrome via the SIX5 Gene" whose purpose is mutation confirmation and risk assessment (screening).

Genetic testing for CHARGE syndrome involves specific genetic testing for the CHD7 gene. The test is available at most major genetic testing laboratories. Insurance companies sometimes do not pay for such genetic tests, though this is changing rapidly as genetic testing is becoming standard across all aspects of medicine. CHARGE syndrome is a clinical diagnosis, which means genetic testing is not required in order to make the diagnosis. Rather, the diagnosis can be made based on clinical features alone.

The treatment will vary with the different grades, but the most common is a surgical repair. The surgical option is cosmetic reconstruction of the external ear's normal shape and repair of the ear canal. In less severe cases the reconstruction will be sufficient to restore hearing. In grades of anotia/microtia that affect the middle ear the surgery with the use of a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) will likely restore the hearing. The BAHA may be surgically implanted onto the skull which would allow for some hearing repair by conduction through the skull bone. "This allows sound vibrations to travel through bones in the head to the inner ear."

BAHA: An implantable hearing device. It is the only hearing aid device that works via direct bone conduction.

Typically, testing is first done to determine the quality of hearing. This can be done as early as in the first two weeks with a BAER test (Brain Stem Auditory Response Test). At age 5–6, CT or CAT scans of the middle ear can be done to elucidate its development and clarify which patients are appropriate candidates for surgery to improve hearing. For younger individuals, this is done under sedation.

The hearing loss associated with congenital aural atresia is a conductive hearing loss—hearing loss caused by inefficient conduction of sound to the inner ear. Essentially, children with aural atresia have hearing loss because the sound cannot travel into the (usually) healthy inner ear—there is no ear canal, no eardrum, and the small ear bones (malleus/hammer, incus/anvil, and stapes/stirrup) are underdeveloped. "Usually" is in parentheses because rarely, a child with atresia also has a malformation of the inner ear leading to a sensorineural hearing loss (as many as 19% in one study). Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by a problem in the inner ear, the cochlea. Sensorineural hearing loss is not correctable by surgery, but properly fitted and adjusted hearing amplification (hearing aids) generally provide excellent rehabilitation for this hearing loss. If the hearing loss is severe to profound in both ears, the child may be a candidate for a cochlear implant (beyond the scope of this discussion).

Unilateral sensorineural hearing loss was not generally considered a serious disability by the medical establishment before the nineties; it was thought that the afflicted person was able to adjust to it from birth. In general, there are exceptional advantages to gain from an intervention to enable hearing in the microtic ear, especially in bilateral microtia. Children with untreated unilateral sensorineural hearing loss are more likely to have to repeat a grade in school and/or need supplemental services (e.g., FM system – see below) than their peers.

Children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss often require years of speech therapy in order to learn how to enunciate and understand spoken language. What is truly unclear, and the subject of an ongoing research study, is the effect of unilateral conductive hearing loss (in children with unilateral aural atresia) on scholastic performance. If atresia surgery or some form of amplification is not used, special steps should be taken to ensure that the child is accessing and understanding all of the verbal information presented in school settings. Recommendations for improving a child's hearing in the academic setting include preferential seating in class, an FM system (the teacher wears a microphone, and the sound is transmitted to a speaker at the child's desk or to an ear bud or hearing aid the child wears), a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), or conventional hearing aids. Age for BAHA implantation depends on whether the child is in Europe (18 months) or the US (age 5). Until then it is possible to fit a BAHA on a softband

It is important to note that not all children with aural atresia are candidates for atresia repair. Candidacy for atresia surgery is based on the hearing test (audiogram) and CT scan imaging. If a canal is built where one does not exist, minor complications can arise from the body's natural tendency to heal an open wound closed. Repairing aural atresia is a very detailed and complicated surgical procedure which requires an expert in atresia repair. While complications from this surgery can arise, the risk of complications is greatly reduced when using a highly experienced otologist. Atresia patients who opt for surgery will temporarily have the canal packed with gelatin sponge and silicone sheeting to prevent closure. The timing of ear canal reconstruction (canalplasty) depends on the type of external ear (Microtia) repair desired by the patient and family. Two surgical teams in the USA are currently able to reconstruct the canal at the same time as the external ear in a single surgical stage (one stage ear reconstruction).

In cases where a later surgical reconstruction of the external ear of the child might be possible, positioning of the BAHA implant is critical. It may be necessary to position the implant further back than usual to enable successful reconstructive surgery – but not so far as to compromise hearing performance. If the reconstruction is ultimately successful, it is easy to remove the percutaneous BAHA abutment. If the surgery is unsuccessful, the abutment can be replaced and the implant re-activated to restore hearing.

If lesions are typical, non-extensive and with no detriment to hearing, investigation into the condition is rarely required. Audiometry is used to determine the extent of hearing loss, if any. Tympanometry produces tympanograms which can be different when tympanosclerosis is present. Computerised tomography (CT) can be used to determine if disease is present in the middle ear. Whilst hearing loss is a common symptom in many diseases of the ear, for example in otosclerosis (abnormal bone growth in the ear), the white, chalky patches on the tympanic membrane are fairly characteristic of tympanosclerosis. Cholesteatoma is similar in appearance but the whiteness is behind the tympanic membrane, rather than inside.

Aural atresia is the underdevelopment of the middle ear and canal and usually occurs in conjunction with microtia. Atresia occurs because patients with microtia may not have an external opening to the ear canal, though. However, the cochlea and other inner ear structures are usually present. The grade of microtia usually correlates to the degree of development of the middle ear.

Microtia is usually isolated, but may occur in conjunction with hemifacial microsomia, Goldenhar Syndrome or Treacher-Collins Syndrome. It is also occasionally associated with kidney abnormalities (rarely life-threatening), and jaw problems, and more rarely, heart defects and vertebral deformities.

The treatment of soft tissue parts of midface anomalies is often a reconstruction from a skin flap of the cheek. This skinflap can be used for other operations in the further, as it can be raised again and transposed again. In the treatment of midface anomalies there are generally more operations needed. Bone tissue reconstruction of the midface often occurs later than the soft tissue reconstruction. The most common method to reconstruct the midface is by using the fracture/ incision lines described by René Le Fort. When the cleft involves the maxilla, it is likely that the impaired growth will result in a smaller maxillary bone in all 3 dimensions (height, projection, width).

Treatment is supportive and consists of management of manifestations. User of hearing aids and/or cochlear implant, suitable educational programs can be offered. Periodic surveillance is also important.

When diagnosing, PLF should be differentiated from Ménière's disease. Tympanostomy has been reported to be a way to diagnose and cure PLF.

Most causes of conductive hearing loss can be identified by examination but if it is important to image the bones of the middle ear or inner ear then a CT scan is required. CT scan is useful in cases of congenital conductive hearing loss, chronic suppurative otitis media or cholesteatoma, ossicular damage or discontinuity, otosclerosis and third window dehiscence. Specific MRI scans can be used to identify cholesteatoma.

Simple surgical excision is curative. The recommended treatment is that the skin is peeled off the extra-auricular tissue and protruding cartilage remnants are trimmed. Normal appearance is achieved in majority of cases. The reconstruction successful in true cases of accessory auricle, as it also is in individuals with auricular appendages.

Once the diagnosis is made based on clinical signs, it is important to investigate other body systems that may be involved. For example, if the diagnosis is made based on the abnormal appearance of the ears and developmental delay, it is important to check the child's hearing, vision, heart, nose, and urogenital system. Ideally, every child newly diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome should have a complete evaluation by an ENT specialist, audiologist, ophthalmologist, pediatric cardiologist, developmental therapist, and pediatric urologist.

Courses of treatment typically include the following:

- Draining the pus once awhile as it can build up a strong odor

- Antibiotics when infection occurs.

- Surgical excision is indicated with recurrent fistular infections, preferably after significant healing of the infection. In case of a persistent infection, infection drainage is performed during the excision operation. The operation is generally performed by an appropriately trained specialist surgeon e.g. an otolaryngologist or a specialist General Surgeon.

- The fistula can be excised as a cosmetic operation even though no infection appeared. The procedure is considered an elective operation in the absence of any associated complications.

Usually the hemangioma requires medical therapy. The child may need other therapies, depending on what other organs or structures are involved.