Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic suppurative otitis media

Abstract EN

Objectives : A prospective study conducted in Basra General Hospital from April 2008 to March 2009 to find the cause-effect relationship between chronic suppurativ otitis media and sensorineural hearing loss.

Method : hearing thresholds of hundred patients with chronic supportive otitis media were determined using Pure Tone Audiometry.

All subjects were less than 40 years old (to exclude Age related hearing loss), unilateral cases selected (so as the contralateral healthy ear served as a control).

All of them presented criteria of evaluation which exclude the other possible causes of sensorineural hearing loss like : chronic medical illnesses, otological surgeries, hereditary causes, exposure to noise and exposure to systemic ototoxic drugs.

Results : the average loss in bone conduction threshold was determined between the affected and healthy ear in relation to the disease duration and in relation to the extent of the pathology.

Conclusion : we found that the longer the duration of the disease and the more complicated the pathology, the more the loss in bone conduction.

This loss is mostly at the higher frequencies.