Audiometry and ossicular condition in chronic otitis media

Introduction: Ossicular chain injury is one of the most common causes of hearing loss in chronic otitis media (COM). Although definite diagnosis of ossicular discontinuity is made intraoperatively, preoperative determination of ossicular chain injury will help the surgeon decide about reconstruction options and hearing prognosis of the patient. In this study we compared preoperative pure tone audiometry (PTA) findings of COM patients with the ossicular condition determined during surgery. Materials and Methods: ۹۷ Patients with COM who underwent ear surgery for the first time were included in the study. A checklist of preoperative clinical findings, audiometric parameters and intraoperative findings was filled out for all patients. Results: Mean amount of Air-Bone Gap (ABG), Bone Conduction threshold (BC) and Air Conduction threshold (AC) of ۹۷ Patients were ۳۵.۱۷, ۱۳.۱۳ and ۴۸.۳۰ respectively. In ears with or without cholesteatoma, granulation tissue, or otorrhea, mean of AC, BC, and ABG were not significantly different. In ossicular erosion and discontinuity (OD), mean of AC and BC thresholds increased significantly but ABG didn’t change significantly. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, in preoperative assessment of COM patients to predict ossicular condition we recommend considering AC, BC and ABG levels together instead of using ABG alone as is routine in our daily practice.

Keywords:

Otitis media , Ossicular discontinuity , Pure tone audiometry