Disorders Final Flashcards
What is hearing loss resulting from overexposure to loud noise?
- This is the 2nd most common type of acquired hearing loss
- 30 million Americans are exposed daily to dangerous noise conditions (includes children)
- often occupational; regulation of workplace noise by Occupational Safety & Health Association (OSHA)
Noise Induced Hearing Loss
What are the three types of NIHL?
Noise Induced Permanent Threshold Shift (NIPTS), Acoustic trauma, Noise Induced Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS)
Repeated exposure (over the years) to SPLs lower than those that produce acoustic trauma
-Long-term; Usually occupational (ONIHL)
Noise Induced Permanent Threshold Shift (NIPTS)
- Permanent cochlear damage after one exposure to very high SPLs (firecracker, gunfire, jackhammer)
- Physical trauma & acoustic have similar and may occur together
- Hearing loss “muffled”
- Tinnitus
- Disequilibrium (rare)
- Hemotympanum
- Perforation, otorrhea
- Ossicular disarticulation
Acoustic Trauma
Exposure to loud sounds for a few hours
-“buzzy” ears, muffled hearing, decline in thresholds but recovery within hours or days
- not temporary, IHC most affected; long-term effects are initially hidden but progress over time
- the greater the SPL the greater the shift
- max threshold shift occurs 0.5 - 1 octave above the center frequency exposure
- when the max shift in this reaches its maximum, it will lead to a maximum permanent threshold shift
Noise Induced Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS)
- No stereocilia disarray, but decrease in stiffness
- Strial swelling – Excitotoxicity
- Loss of some spiral ligament fibrocytes
- Space of Nuel Collapse (then recovers)
- Synaptic terminal swelling/retraction
- Steriocelia often damages regardless of hair cell survival
- Threshold recovery, ABR & DPOAE thresholds recover from initial shift, but ABR amplitudes decline
- Loss of synapses, terminals after noise
- Delayed loss of afferents
This pathophysiology is indicative of…
TTS
The condition where nerve fibers become permanently disconnected from IHC. Not revelaved by any tests of threshold sensitivity
Hidden Hearing Loss (HHL)
What is the formula for noise exposure?
For every 3 dB increase cut exposure time by half (ex: 85 dBA: 8 hr exposure limit, 88 dBA 4 hr exposure limit, 91 dBA: 2 hr exposure limit…)
Definition: Equal amounts of sound energy will produce equal amounts of hearing impairment regardless of how sound energy is distributed in time
Equal Energy Hypothesis
How much (loudness, annoyance)
Duration (continuous, intermittent, impulse, impact, for how long)
These define…
Characteristics of Noise
Duration of exposure, level of exposure, frequency spectrum of noise, distance from source
These are…
Contributing factors of NIHL
Dehydration, heart disease, smoking, alcohol, diabetes
Health and Lifestyle risk factors that may interact with noise
Public health issues, educate parents and families, discuss hearing loss prevention versus hearing conservation to help patients identify sources of noise in his/her environment, provide appropriate hearing protection
The role of an audiologist
Measure noise exposure levels, document compliance with OSHA guidelines, obtain baseline hearing measures, administer ongoing testing of employees, educate, provide, and monitor the use of hearing protection, may be involved in litigation
the role of an audiologist in the industry
- Information about what sounds can cause damage
- Wear hearing protection
- Be alert to hazardous noise in the workplace
- Protect children (who can’t protect themselves)
- Baseline audiogram
- Public Awareness
NIHL Prevention
- Typically attenuates high frequencies to greater extent than low frequencies
- Rated approx.. 10 dB more effective than reality (likely due to usage)
- Flat attenuation earplugs
- Special Earplugs for musicians, specific needs
Hearing Protection
- 140 dBA impulse (Impulse/impact noise – less than 0.2 seconds)
- Immediate Hearing loss; Both temporary & permanent conditions
- Often accompanied by head trauma
- May be otoscopic evidence of damage to TM
- May be ossicular damage
- May be oval/round window fistula
- Pure Tone thresholds range from mild to severe (in rare case – complete loss)
- May have poor speech discrimination
- May have spontaneous nystagmus and/or reduced caloric response
- Hearing will often improve for a few days/weeks after acute trauma
- Complete recovery depends on the extent of damage
This is indicative of…
Acoustic Trauma
- Direct Damage to stereocilia/hair cells
- Mixing of perilymph and endolymph
- Casacade
- ROS
- If recovery, usually see change within 1 month or 3-6 mos
Pathophysiology of Acoustic Trauma
What is indicative of central & peripheral auditory system changes
Age-related hearing loss (Presbycusis)
65 – 75 years: 30 -35%
75 years +: 40 – 50%
90 years +: > 90%
Incidence/Prevalence of Presbycusis
- Bilateral, symmetric, SNHL (high frequencies most affected)
- Progressive hearing loss with age
- Progressively poorer word recognition scores
- Gradual onset
- Negative history of noise exposure
- Normal otologic exam
Clinical Characteristics of Presbycusis
- DPOAES: decline independently from thresholds in aging
- SRT: increase w/age; greater difficulty understanding comfortably loud speech (esp. in noise)
- Tymps: usually normal (woman – decreased compliance)
Test results for Presbycusis
- Loss of tissue elasticity of pinna and ear canal
- Stiffening of tympanic membrane
- Degeneration of middle ear musculature
- Calcification of ligaments
- Ossification of ossicles
- Inner Ear: Major structures degenerate independently
Pathophysiology of aging on the Outer and Middle ear
According to the Schuknecht Study, impact to this part will result in a bilateral precipitous high-freq SNHL and will initially commensurate speech discrimination ability
Sensory
- Degeneration of hair cells & supporting cells @ base of the cochlea (more OHC)
- Atrophy of the organ of Corti (affects auditory nerve)
- Abruptly sloping, high-frequency loss
- Starts at middle age & progresses slowly
Pathophysiology of Cochlear damage (sensory - Schuknecht)
According to the Schuknecht Study, impact to this part will result in a high-freq hearing loss; mild; poor speech discrim scores (early on); progresses rapidly with aging
Neural
- Loss of dendrites & then cochlear neurons
- Audiogram: loss of neurons prior to loss of IHC may not affect hearing sensitivity until up to 90% of radial afferent neurons have degenerated (Expect speech understanding to be worse than anticipated from audiogram)
- Primary: neuropathy
- Secondary: hair cells die, no input, nerve cells die
- Can cut ½ nerve with out changing thresholds
- Can lose up to 90% without threshold change
Pathophysiology of Neural damage (neural - Schuknecht)
According to the Schuknecht Study, impact to this part will result in flat SNHL with good preservation of speech understanding
Strial/Metabolic
- Degeneration of stria vascularis (Disruption of nutrient supply & changes in cochlear electrical potentials)
- Audiogram: flat; reasonable speech discrim scores
- Decrease in endocochlear potential correlated with poorer thresholds
- Larger genetic effect for this pattern
Pathophysiology of Strial/Metabolic damage (Strial/Metabolic - Schuknecht)
According to the Schuknecht Study, impact to this part will result in a sloping SNHL, including low freq, speech understanding good
Mechanical (Cochlear Conductive)
- Changes due to mass/stiffness changes/atrophy of the spiral ligament
Pathophysiology of Strial/Metabolic damage (Mechanic - Schuknecht)
Not Schuknecht category - Hearing loss has a significant effect but may occur in the absence of hearing loss
- “Can’t hear in background noise”
Central damage
Age overall impacts…
Working memory, speed of processing, attention & the brain, senses (touch, vision as well as hearing, central auditory processing)
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Hypercholesterolaemia
- Surgeries (anaesthesia)
- Prescription drug ototoxicity
- Hormones, sex
- Cardio/microvascular
- Diet (antioxidants good)
These are all ___________
Risk factors for hearing
This ability deteriorates with age, especially from the seventh decade on
Speech-in-noise
This increasingly affects speech understanding as listeners age
Reverberation
This ability is highly correlated with their ability to understand speech in babble and reverberation
The ability of elderly listeners to segregate non-speech streams using only envelope information
hearing loss matters a lot….
low context
hearing loss matters less….
high context
- Changes with aging
- Estrogen seems to be protective (thresholds, word rec decline with menopause)
- Women aon Hormone replacement therapy do better postmenopausal than those not on HRT
- Aldosterone levels associated with better thresholds
Hormones
- Early identification is important (social, psychological, economic consequences)
- Increased success with HAs
- Disuse atrophy/plasticity (Cortical reorganization)
Presbycusis Identification
A screening tool for Presbycusis
Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly – screening version (HHIE-S)
- Depression
- Confusion
- Inattentiveness
- Increased tension
- Negativism
Is often confused with….
Hearing Impairment in Elderly
- Poor general health
- Reduced mobility
- Reduced interpersonal communication
Is often confused with….
Hearing Impairment in Elderly
Counseling, alleviation of symptoms, HAs, ALDs, and Group Rehab are all ….
Presbycusis Treatment & Rehabilitation Options
- Lifestyle
- Hearing aids and/or assistive listening devices
- Financial constraints
- Measuring hearing aid benefit
- Quality of life
- Family involvement
Should all be considerations for….
Rehab
Anything beyon the cochlea is defined as…
Retrocochlear
- 80 -85% of CPA tumors (MOST COMMON)
- 5 – 10% of intracranial tumors
- 3:2 female to male
- About 50 yrs old, mostly White (black, Hispanic, & Asian populations were more likely to present with large tumors)
- Affects schwann cells on vestibular part of VIII nerve
- Cellular transformation/proliferation of schwann cells
This is the epidemiology of….
Vestibular Schwannoma
Where is the nerve of origin for Vestibular Schwannoma?
Obersteiner – Redlich Zone (where Schwann cells & oligodendrocytes meet)
- Nerves 5 (trigeminal), 7(facial), 8
- AICA artery
- Contains CSF
This describes….
Cerebellopontine Angle (CPA)
- 8.5mm in length
- Lined w/dura & filled w/spinal fluid
- CN7 & CN8
- Where the peripheral & central systems meet
This describes….
Internal auditory Canal (IAC)
- Benign; Often characterized by slow growth
- 5% are NF2 patients (less than 30 yrs, bilateral)
- 95% sporadic
- Idiopathic
This is…
The natural history of Vestibular Schwannoma
- Unilateral/Asymmetric hearing loss (most common symptom)
- Usually high freq/can be mid-freq
- Sudden/fluctuating 5-15%
- Unilateral Tinnitus
- Headache
- Balance disturbance/imbalance/dizziness
- Episodic vertigo
- Facial weakness/facial numbness/facial palsy
- Aural fullness
- Ataxia (loss of control of bodily movements)
- Otalgia/jaw pain
- Hyperacusis
These are…
Signs and symptoms of Vestibular Schwannoma
- Pure tone: asymmetry
- Speech Discrim tests: asymmetry
- Poor discrim for thresholds
Will decline even if no/little tumor growth - PI/PB function (rollover)
- Immittance audiometry
- AR ~60% sensitivity if present
- Tone decay – rarely
- ABR, stacked ABR I-III & I –V intervals, Wave V latency difference, ABR peaks absent, misses small tumors
- Vestibular testing (ENG) - tells about superior vestibular nerve (SSC, utricle)
- VEMPS - tell about inferior vestibular nerve (saccule)
- DPOAEs decreased in some cases
This is…
Diagnostic Results for Vestibular Schwannoma
- Potential effect of tumor on nerve – compression
- Effect on blood flow
- Change in gene expression secretion
This is…
The pathophysiology of a Vestibular Schwannoma
- MRI for diagnosis (gold standard)
- Observation
- Surgery
- Gamma knife treatment - radiosurgery noninvasive treatment option (delayed hearing loss)
- Wait & see - for elderly patients, small tumors, refusal of treatment, tumor on side of only hearing ear
- If you take it out —> higher likelihood of preserving hearing
This is…
Management for Vestibular Schwannoma
This is a surgical approach for VS where hearing is sacrificed but it is a good identification of CN VII and there is less risk of CSF leak
Translabyrinthine
This is a surgical approach for VS where hearing preservation is possible; it’s excellent for intracanalicular tumors but there is lack of access to CPA (need to retract temporal bone)
Middle Fossa Approach
This is a surgical approach for VS where hearing preservation possible; there’s access to CPA, limited access to IAC, difficulty repairing CN VII
Retrosigmoid/Suboccipital
Advantages: Decreased length of stay, decreased cost, rapid return to full employment, lower immediate post-treatment morbidity & mortality
Disadvantages: Necessity for regular monitor & frequency re-scanning, does not eliminate the tumor & has higher recurrence rates, higher incidence of trigeminal nerve injury
Gamma Knife Intervention
- Hearing loss, Facial nerve injury, Cerebellar damage, Arterial occlusion/hemorrhage, Meningitis, CSF leaks, headache
Complications of surgery
- Medical Referral & support
- Monitoring
- Rehabilitation
HA, CROS, BAHA, CI, ABI, Vestibular Rehab
Audiologist’s Role