title: Relationship between hearing threshold at the affected and unaffected ear in unilateral Meniere's disease.
abstract: Hearing loss in Menière's disease has been described to affect above all low frequencies (upward curve) with a tendency to become irreversible and non-fluctuating at the higher frequencies (peaked curve) over time. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of MD on hearing function on the basis of differences existing between the affected and the unaffected ear in a group of patients affected by definite unilateral MD and whose contralateral ear was not affected by any disease other than age-related hearing loss (ARHL). Following this procedure we have also evaluated the possible effects of age and disease duration on hearing loss in MD. The study group consisted of 86 subjects affected by definite unilateral MD. In our sample a peaked audiometric curve characterized the affected ears; however, the result after subtracting the normal ear hearing threshold was an upward sloping curve, which highlighted the greater suffering at the lower frequencies. On the basis of differences existing between affected and unaffected ear, our data suggest that threshold evolution is more related to disease duration rather than to age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy. roberto.albera@unito.it.|, Str. S. Anna 78 bis, 10139, Torino, Italy. roberto.albera@unito.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Albera
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canale
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cassandro
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albera
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Azia Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sammartano
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, via Genova 3, 10100, Torino, Italy. federico.dagna@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dagna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hearing loss; Menière’s disease; Pure tone audiometry