Final Flashcards
Case History Purpose
Investigate why problems exist - understand problems & system
Case History Information to Gather
- ID Info
- Occupation
- School Level
- Chief Complaint
- Timeline
- Severity
- Symptoms
- Medical History
- Family History
What age is the auditory system fully developed?
6 months
CNT
Could not test - attempted testing, but could not complete
DNT
Did not test - did not attempt to test
Otalgia
ear ache or ear pain
AS: otitis externa, otitis media, TMJ, teeth grinding
INT: Medical referral
Conductive hearing loss
issue within outer or middle ear
can be medically remediated
air & bone scores more than 10dB apart
bone within normal limits
Paracusis Willisii
symptom of conductive loss
hearing better in noise than quiet
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
issue with inner ear & beyond
air & bone scores within 10dB of each other
Mixed Hearing Loss
air & bone more than 10dB apart, bone outside normal limits
Retrocochlear
issue past the cochlea (ie. central pathway, brainstem, etc.)
symptoms can include diminished understanding
Outer Ear Disorders
- impacted cerumen
- foreign bodies
- otitis externa (swimmer’s ear)
- otorrhea
Impacted Cerumen
impedes sound from getting to the TM (occlusion)
AS: aural fullness, tinnitus, sudden HL
INT: removal
Foreign Body
anything in the ear canal that doesn’t belong
AS: blood, discharge, HL, tinnitus (occlusion), aural fullness
INT: removal
Otitis Externa
infection of outer auditory meatus
AS: discharge, itching, edema, pain, HL
INT: medicated drops (medical referral)
Otorrhea
discharge from ear
AS: otitis media (perforation), odor, infectious material, otalgia, itching
INT: medical referral immediately - follow infectious control protocol
TM Disorders
- retraction
2. perforation
TM Retraction
negative pressure on the TM
AS: depends on severity, stuffy, blocked, HL
INT: depends on severity - decongestants, tubes, tympanoplasty
TM Perforation
hole in TM
AS: fullness, tinnitus, HL, vertigo, blood, otalgia, discharge
INT: drops, heal on its own, surgery
Middle Ear Disorders
- otitis media with effusion
- cholesteatoma
- disarticulated ossicles
Otitis Media with Effusion (serous)
fluid within the middle ear cavity, more serious audiologically - harder to identify can thicken
AS: sterile fluid, see through TM, dull TM, hearing loss, fullness
INT: nasal spray/decongestants, tympanostomy tubes
Otitis Media with Effusion (suppurative)
infectious fluid within the middle ear space
AS: infectious material, TM red, TM bulging, thick, hearing loss, fullness, sickness, pain
INT: Antibiotics
Cholesteatoma
tumor-like sack in the middle ear with infectious material, usually under lining of middle ear; can be from perforation, chronic OMWE; highly erosive
AS: HL, pain, TM perforation
INT: surgery, reconstruction of ossicles or TM
Disarticulated Ossicles
gap in ossicles; can be caused by trauma or infection
AS: sudden HL, tinnitus
INT: can heal on its own, surgery, prosthetics
Inner Ear Disorders
- Noise Induced HL
- Presbycusis/Sociocusis
- Sudden Loss
- Meniere’s Disease
Noise Induced HL
permanent damage to inner ear; can be from blast exposure or impact noise
AS: high blood pressure, stress, bilateral notch 3-6kHz
INT: prevention, avoidance, amplification, auditory training/sp reading
Presbycusis/Sociocusis
loss due to aging or the exposure of daily life
AS: HL
INT: amplification, communication strategies, speech reading
Sudden Loss
can be caused by viral, vascular, idiopathic, autoimmune issues, etc.
AS: tinnitus, fullness, HL, vertigo
INT: refer immediately - first 48hrs. - better recovery, steroids
Meniere’s Disease
buildup of fluid in inner ear - endolymph overproducation in the vestibular system (connected to scala media) - puts pressure on membrane; progressive
AS: fluctuating low frequency HL, fullness, low roaring tinnitus, pressure, true spinning vertigo
INT: amplification, vertigo medicine, therapy
Central Auditory Disorders
- Lesions
- APD
- Tinnitus
Central Auditory Lesions
growths on central pathway; acoustic neuroma
AS: asymmetric high frequency HL, progessing HL (with tumor growth), reduced understanding, balance issues, facial numbness, headaches
INT: benign - let grow until hearing gone, malignent - quick removal
Central Auditory Processing Disorders
CAPD, effectiveness of using auditory information; worse in noise situations; larger issue in children - mislabled
Tinnitus
sound without stimulus; spectrum of severity; commonly “can’t hear because of tinnitus,” strong relationship bt tinnitus & HL, rule out retrocochlear pathology
external factors: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, medications
Dizziness
imprecise term describes various symptoms such as faintness, vertigo, disequilibrium, unsteadiness, etc.
Disequilibrium
disturbance or absence of equilibrium
Equilibrium
condition of being evenly balanced
Faint
extremely weak; threatened with syncope
Syncope
loss of consciousness & postural tone; caused by diminished cerebral blood flow
Vertigo
sensation of spinning; objects around them are spinning or whirling
Vestibular info to gather
- meaning of vague terms
- onset
- frequency
- length of duration
- nausea
- changes in hearing
- tinnitus
- swallowing, speaking, or vision issues
- warning signs
- loss of consciousness
- fullness or pressure at back of head
- medications
- blood pressure or heart issues
- medications
Otoscopy
visual inspection of pinna, outer ear canal, & TM
Otoscopy Procedure
- wash hands
- gloves
- inspect ear
- clinician positioning (eye level)
- manipulate ear (adult - up & back, infant - down & out)
- remove gloves
- wash hands
.Tuning fork test limitations
- no set frequency or intensity
- varied patient response
- done in poor acoustic environments
Weber
OBJ: determine whether unilateral loss is SN or conductive
TECH: tuning fork struck on baseline
OUT:
1. hear tone in both ears or in middle of head - normal or SN bilateral loss
2. hear tone in better ear: SNHL (in the bad ear) or mixed if BC thresholds are better in that ear than other
3. hear tone in worse ear: conductive (stenger - occlusion)
Rinne
OBJ: determine if air or bone is most efficient
TECH: fork struck on mastoid then moved to front of canal; pt asked which is louder
OUT:
1. positive: louder at canal - normal or SNHL
2. negative: louder for bone - conductive
Bing
OBJ: determine if SN or conductive
TECH: fork struck on mastoid: open & close tragus
OUT:
1. positive: occluded is louder: SN or normal
2. negative: no difference: conductive
Schwabach
OBJ: determine hearing loss conductive or SN
TECH: base on mastoid until no longer heard then placed on physician’s mastoid
OUT
1. physician hears longer than patient: SNHL
2. patient hears longer than physician: conductive
3. same: normal
Exhaustive Calibration Times
- at least once a year
- before use
- any reason output may have changed
Basic Calibration Instruments
- couplers
- sound level meter
- voltmeter
- electronic counter/timer
- oscilloscope
Transducers & Calibration
transducers calibrated for specific equipment; transducers set to otologically normal individual age 18-30
Audiometric Zero
0dB HL - cannot be measured
RETSPL
Reference Equivalent Threshold Sound Pressure Levels - air conduction with transducers
RETFLs
Reference Equivalent Threshold Force Levels - bone conduction (artificial mastoid)
ANSI Standards
From the year of production of the equipment; specifies how the audiometer is to perform when manufactured
NASED
National Association of Special Equipment Distribution; several major audiology services united and established “gold standard” but voluntary
Recommended calibration output values
dB deviation from the standard
Absolute SPL reading limitation
do not easily allow determination of total output error nor the ANSI compliance values
Process of Determining Max Testing Output Error
- Obtain SPL reading at 1500Hz
- Locate ANSI level at 1500Hz
- Calculate difference
- Locate worse positive attenuation error
- Add worse positive to calculate difference
- Locate worse negative attenuation error
- Subtract from difference
- MTOE range from sum of step 5 & difference of step 7
What is Max Total Output Error Calculated for?
- Each transducer
- Each frequency
- Both channels
How is Frequency Accuracy Measured during Calibration?
Precision frequency counter
ANSI specified audiometers
- two full channel audiometer
- one & a half main/masking channel
- air/bone portable
- air portable
ANSI Frequency Tolerances
For type 1 & 2 audiometers: +/- 1% of indicated dial setting
For type 3 & 4 audiometers: +/- 2% of indicated dial setting
Pure Tone and Speech Calibration
- Left & right primary earphones (both channels)
2. secondary transducers
Max Permissible Ambient Noise Level
Must test down to audiometric zero
Determination of Ambient Noise Levels
- SLM at location of patient’s head
- levels recorded & compared to ANSI standards
- CANNOT OVERCOME EXTERNAL NOISE WITH ACOUSTICAL MODIFICATION (ie. noise reducation headphones)
Noise Reduction Headphones Limitation
- no calibration standards
- greater test/retest variability
- greater variability in amount of noise attenuated
White noise Calibration for Masking
recorded in absolute dB SPL
each manufacturer determines WN calibration level
Noise masking Tolerance
+5/-3dB
How to measure Harmonic Distortion
use a precision analyzer
leading cause of transducer distortion
mistreatment (ie. dropping)
Bone Output is recorded in
dB deviations due to artificial mastoid & meter sensitivities
Bone output Tolerance
+/-3dB for 250-4kHz pure tone & speech inputs
+/-5dB for 6k-8kHz pure tone