ENT - Hearing Loss Flashcards
What is the onset like in hearing loss?
Gradual and insidous or sudden
Patients may present because others have noticed they are not paying attention or missing details of conversations
What is required for sudden onset hearing loss occurring in less than 72 hours?
A thorough assessment to establish the cause
Sudden onset hearing loss can mean serious underlying causes
List associated symptoms that may occur alongside hearing loss.
- Tinnitus
- Vertigo
- Pain (may indicate infection)
- Discharge (may indicate an outer or middle ear infection)
- Neurological symptoms
What are patients with hearing loss more likely to develop?
Dementia
Treating the hearing loss can reduce the risk
In sensorineural hearing loss, where will the sound be louder during Weber’s test?
In the normal ear
In conductive hearing loss, where will the sound be louder during Weber’s test?
In the affected ear
Becomes more sensitive due to conductive issue
What is a normal result in Rinne’s test?
Air conduction is better than bone conduction
This is Rinne’s positive
What does a Rinne’s negative result suggest?
Conductive cause for hearing loss
Bone conduction is better than air
List the causes of adult-onset sensorineural hearing loss
- Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (over less than 72 hours)
- Presbycusis (age-related)
- Noise exposure
- Ménière’s disease
- Labyrinthitis
- Acoustic neuroma
- Neurological conditions (e.g., stroke, multiple sclerosis or brain tumours)
- Infections (e.g., meningitis)
- Medications
Name some medications that can cause sensorineural hearing loss.
- Loop diuretics (e.g., furosemide)
- Aminoglycoside antibiotics (e.g., gentamicin)
- Chemotherapy drugs (e.g., cisplatin)
List the causes of adult-onset conductive hearing loss.
- Ear wax (or something else blocking the canal)
- Infection (e.g., otitis media or otitis externa)
- Fluid in the middle ear (effusion)
- Eustachian tube dysfunction
- Perforated tympanic membrane
- Otosclerosis
- Cholesteatoma
- Exostoses
- Tumours
