SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS IN CHRONIC SUPPURATIVE OTITIS MEDIA

Abstract

Objectives : A prospective study conducted in Basra General Hospital from April 2008 to March 2009 to find the cause - effect relationship between chronic suppurative otitis media and sensorineural hearing loss . Method : Hearing thresholds of hundred patients with chronic suppurative 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 .