Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media

Is there a significant correlation?

Authors

  • Shahram Samadi Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Keywords:

Hearing loss, Sensorineural, Otitis media, Suppurative, Bone conduction

Abstract

Introduction: Hearing loss as a sequel of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is often conductive, but recent studies have found an additional sensorineural component in these patients, thus demonstrating inner ear damage. The aim of the study was to determine the association between CSOM and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and to assess the influence of patient’s age, duration of disease, and presence of cholesteatoma and ossicular erosion on the degree of SNHL.

Methods: In a retrospective study, the medical records of 119 patients who underwent surgery was reviewed. Seventy patients met the inclusion criteria of unilateral otorrhea, normal contralateral ear on otoscopy, and age between 10–65 years with no history of head trauma or ear surgery or familial hearing loss. Bone conduction (BC) thresholds for affected and contralateral ear were measured at frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 13 with independent-samples t-test, Pearson correlation test, and two-tailed analysis. A p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Significant higher BC thresholds were found in the affected ear than in the normal ear for each frequency (p < 0.001), which increased with increasing frequency (7.00 dB at the 500 Hz and 9.71 dB at the 4000 Hz). There was a significant correlation between age and degree of SNHL (r = 0.422, p < 0.001) but no significant correlation was in duration of the disease (r = 0.119, p > 0.05). There was no relationship between presence of cholesteatoma and ossicular erosion with SNHL (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that CSOM is associated with some degree of SNHL and cochlear damage, and higher frequencies are more affected. Aging can act as a precipitating factor in this pathological process.

 

References

Verhoeff M, van der Veen EL, Rovers MM, Sanders EA, Schilder AG. Chronic suppurative otitis media: a

review. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2006; 70(1): 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2005.08.021. PMID:

Jensen RG, Koch A, Homoe P. The risk of hearing loss in a population with a high prevalence of chronic

suppurative otitis media. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2013; 77(9): 1530-5. doi:

1016/j.ijporl.2013.06.025. PMID: 23906989.

Lin FR, Niparko JK, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss prevalence in the United States. Arch Intern Med. 2011;

(20): 1851-2. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.506. PMID: 22083573, PMCID: PMC3564588.

Bakir S, Kinis V, Bez Y, Gun R, Yorgancilar E, Ozbay M, et al. Mental health and quality of life in

patients with chronic otitis media. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2013; 270(2): 521-6. doi: 10.1007/s00405- 012-2031-6. PMID: 22566178.

da Costa SS, Rosito LP, Dornelles C. Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with chronic otitis media. Eur

Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2009; 266(2): 221-4. doi: 10.1007/s00405-008-0739-0. PMID: 18629531.

MacAndie C, O'Reilly BF. Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic otitis media. Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci.

; 24(3): 220-2. PMID: 10384849.

Paparella MM, Morizono T, Le CT, Mancini F, Sipilä P, Choo YB, et al. Sensorineural hearing loss in

otitis media. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1984; 93(6 Pt 1): 623-9. PMID: 6508134.

Kaur K, Sonkhya N, Bapna AS. Chronic suppurative otitis media and sensorineural hearing loss: Is there a

correlation? Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003; 55(1): 21-4. doi: 10.1007/BF02968747. PMID:

, PMCID: PMC3450943.

de Azevedo AF, Pinto DC, de Souza NJ, Greco DB, Goncalves DU. Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic

suppurative otitis media with and without cholesteatoma. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2007; 73(5): 671-4.

PMID: 18094809.

Kolo ES, Salisu AD, Yaro AM, Nwaorgu OG. Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with chronic

suppurative otitis media. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2012; 64(1): 59-62. doi: 10.1007/s12070- 011-0251-5. PMID: 23449378, PMCID: PMC3244579.

Raquib A, Taous A, Haque R. Sensorineural component in chronic suppurative otitis media. Bangladesh

Journal of Otorhinolaryngology. 2009; 15(2): 69-74. doi: 10.3329/bjo.v15i2.5060.

Varshney S, Nangia A, Bist SS, Singh RK, Gupta N, Bhagat S. Ossicular chain status in chronic

suppurative otitis media in adults. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010; 62(4): 421-6. doi:

1007/s12070-010-0116-3. PMID: 22319706, PMCID: PMC3266081.

Noordzij JP, Dodson EE, Ruth RA, Arts HA, Lambert PR. Chronic otitis media and sensorineural hearing

loss: is there a clinically significant relation? Am J Otol. 1995; 16(4): 420-3. PMID: 8588640.

Levine BA, Shelton C, Berliner KI, Sheehy JL. Sensorineural loss in chronic otitis media. Is it clinically

significant? Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1989; 115(7): 814-6. PMID: 2736092.

Spandow O, Anniko M, Hellstrom S. Inner ear disturbances following inoculation of endotoxin into the

middle ear. Acta Otolaryngol. 1989; 107(1-2): 90-6. PMID: 2648747.

Goycoolea MV, Paparella MM, Juhn SK, Carpenter AM. Oval and round window changes in otitis media.

Potential pathways between middle and inner ear. Laryngoscope. 1980; 90(8 Pt 1): 1387-91. PMID:

Redaelli de Zinis LO, Campovecchi C, Parrinello G, Antonelli AR. Predisposing factors for inner ear

hearing loss association with chronic otitis media. Int J Audiol. 2005; 44(10): 593-8. PMID: 16315450.

Vartiainen E, Vartiainen J. Age and hearing function in patients with chronic otitis media. J Otolaryngol.

; 24(6): 336-9. PMID: 8699598.

Caban AJ, Lee DJ, Gomez-Marin O, Lam BL, Zheng DD. Prevalence of concurrent hearing and visual

impairment in US adults: The National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2002. Am J Public Health. 2005;

(11): 1940-2. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.056671. PMID: 16195516, PMCID: PMC1449463.

Papp Z, Rezes S, Jokay I, Sziklai I. Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic otitis media. Otol Neurotol. 2003;

(2): 141-4. PMID: 12621323.

Lundy LB, Graham MD. Ototoxicity and ototopical medications: a survey of otolaryngologists. Am J Otol.

; 14(2): 141-6. PMID: 8503487.

Browning GG, Gatehouse S, Calder IT. Medical management of active chronic otitis media: a controlled

study. J Laryngol Otol. 1988; 102(6): 491-5. PMID: 3294318.

Vartiainen E, Karjalainen S. Factors influencing sensorineural hearing loss in chronic otitis media. Am J

Otolaryngol. 1987; 8(1): 13-5. PMID: 3578673.

Published

2022-01-18