Presbycusis

Question 1

What is presbycusis?

Answer 1

Age related hearing loss

Question 2

Types of presbycusis: sensory presbycusis

Answer 2

Loss of primarily OHCs, evenly across the basilar membrane

Process is gradual

Question 3

Sensory presbycusis causes

Answer 3

Bilateral high-frequency SNHL
Good word recognition
High frequency because they are the first along the basilar membrane

Question 4

Types of presbycusis: neural presbycusis

Answer 4

Loss of auditory nerve fibers

Greatest loss at the base of the cochlea, typically lose along high frequencies first

Question 5

Neural presbycusis causes

Answer 5

Bilateral high-frequency SNHL

Poorer than expected word recognition due to damage to the ANFs leading to damage to speech signal

Question 6

Types of presbycusis: strial presbycusis

Answer 6

Damage or atrophy of the stria vascularis, nerve fiber loss

May be due to reduced vascular supply

Question 7

Strial presbycusis causes …..

Answer 7

Bilateral flat SNHL
Good word recognition consistent with hearing loss
Flat because the problem is in the cochlea so all frequencies will be affected

Question 8

Types of presbycusis: cochlear conductive presbycusis

Details + causes

Answer 8

Structural alterations in the basilar membrane and/or spiral ligament
Bilateral high-frequency SNHL
Good word recognition consistent with loss

Question 9

What factors increase the risk of presbycusis?

Answer 9

Noise exposure, heart disease, smoking, genetic disposition, diet and nutrition
Typically a combination of factors that accumulate over a lifetime