Non-organic hearing loss in childhood.
OBJECTIVE
The present study aimed to investigate the etiology, symptoms, diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric patients with non-organic hearing loss (NOHL), and to heighten awareness of this disorder among physicians.


METHODS
Between January 2000 and July 2009, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 47 pediatric patients (aged 6-18 years of age) diagnosed with NOHL. The diagnosis was made when there were audiometric discrepancies between the subjective and objective hearing thresholds of the patient in the absence of any organic disease.


RESULTS
Eighteen patients presented with unilateral hearing loss, and 29 showed bilateral hearing loss. Five patients received steroid treatment before the correct diagnosis was made, and six had secretory otitis media and underwent a tympanostomy tube placement.


CONCLUSIONS
If physicians are unaware of the possibility of NOHL; they may misdiagnose children with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and administer high-dose steroid treatments or exploratory tympanotomies. Otoacoustic emissions are abolished when NOHL patients have secretory otitis media. In these cases, after tympanostomy tube placement, they should undergo objective electrophysiologic examinations to reevaluate NOHL.
Morita
Shinya
S
Department of Otolaryngology, Kushiro City General Hospital, 1-12 Shunkodai, Kushiro, Hokkaido 085-0822, Japan. shinyamorita@yahoo.co.jp
Suzuki
Masanobu
M
Iizuka
Keiji
K
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones