Effects of hearing level on habitual sniffing in patients with cholesteatoma.
CONCLUSIONS
Quality of hearing is one of the key conditions promoting habitual sniffing associated with closing failure of the Eustachian tube and sniffing may stop with deterioration of hearing due to progression of the disease.


OBJECTIVE
To examine habitual sniffing associated with closing failure of the Eustachian tube and hearing level in patients with cholesteatoma.


METHODS
A total of 171 patients with middle ear cholesteatoma treated in Tohoku University Hospital (106 sides in 101 patients, 63 males and 38 females, mean age 43.3 years), and Sendai Ear Surgi Center (70 sides in 70 patients, 37 males and 33 females, mean age 42.7 years) were included. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of habitual sniffing, and pre- and postoperative hearing was compared between the two groups.


RESULTS
Habitual sniffing was not found in patients with air conduction hearing level worse than 60 dB or air-bone gap larger than 40 dB. Habitual sniffing disappeared in all patients with expanded air-bone gaps in lower frequency regions after surgery.
Hasegawa
Jun
J
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. junha@orl.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Kawase
Tetsuaki
T
Yuasa
Yu
Y
Hori
Yoko
Y
Sato
Toshinori
T
Kobayashi
Toshimitsu
T
D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018450:Disease Progression; D005064:Eustachian Tube / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000503:physiopathology*