title: Predisposing factors for inner ear hearing loss association with chronic otitis media.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the consequences of chronic otitis media on inner ear function. Retrospective analysis of conventional pure-tone audiometry tests was carried out on 344 patients who were scheduled for surgical treatment of unilateral chronic otitis media without other risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss. Bone conduction thresholds of diseased ears were compared with those of contralateral, non-diseased ears. Selected clinical features were assessed among diseased ears to examine possible influences on inner ear function. Mean bone conduction threshold differences varied from 0.6 dB at 0.5 kHz to 3.7 dB at 4 kHz. These differences augmented with increasing duration of middle ear disease. Impaired hearing by bone conduction thresholds of diseased ears correlated with increased age at every frequency and with an interruption of the ossicular chain only at higher frequencies. The severity of sensorineural hearing loss correlated with longer duration of middle ear disease. Thus, surgical treatment of dry and apparently stable tympanic membrane perforation is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Brescia School of Medicine, Italy. lucaosre@tin.it
authors.forename: Luca Oscar
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Redaelli de Zinis
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campovecchi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parrinello
authors.forename: Antonino Roberto
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Antonelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001844:Bone Conduction; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index