√SNHL Flashcards
xWhat are the different types of Presbycusis?
SCHUCKNECHT’S 6 TYPES
- Sensory presbycusis:
- Loss of receptor hair cells, initially at the basal aspect of the cochlea
- Timing: Occurs starting in middle age
- Audio: Resulting in characteristic downsloping high-frequency hearing loss
- Speech: Good SDS related to frequency range affected, can be abnormal depending on severity (preserved to abnormal) - Neural presbycusis:
- Atrophy of auditory neurons in the spiral ganglion cells and nerves of the spiral lamina
- Affects all turns of the cochlear
- Timing: Later in life
- Audio: Flat to down sloping
- Speech: Severe discrimination loss - Strial/Metabolic/Vascular presbycusis:
- Atrophy and degeneration of stria vascularis cells (essential for maintaining ion composition of endolymph to generate endocochlear potential for signal transduction)
- Initially starts at apex of cochlea
- Audio: Flat sensory loss affecting all frequencies
- Speech: Minimal discrimination loss - Mechanical/Conductive presbycusis:
- Stiffness of basilar membrane, affecting basal and all turns of the cochlea
- Audio: high tone gradual loss, downsloping
- Speech: Discrimination related to steepness of slope (can be preserved to abnormal) - Indeterminant Presbycusis:
- Submicroscopic/intercellular changes, similar to strial/sensory - changes similar to above but not significant/severe
- Audio: Can be flat or downsloping, high frequency loss
- Speech: Depends on affect, can be preserved or mild to abnormal - Mixed presbycusis: characterized by pathologic changes in more than one of the above structures.
Statpearls
Vancouver 299
XXRegarding presbycusis, discuss:
1. What is the incidence?
2. What are the implications?
3. Treatment?
Incidence: 15%
Implications:
1. Social isolation
2. Loss of independence
3. Poor communication
Treatment:
1. Improve general medical conditions
2. Hearing aid
3. Cochlear implant if severe
√What is the definition of asymmetric SNHL?
Definition from Choosing Wisely Canada:
Discrepancy of more than 20dB at 1 frequency, 15 dB at 2 frequencies, or 10dB at 3 frequencies
Saliba’s rule 3000 rule
- Asymmetric SNHL of 15dB or more at the frequency of 3000Hz
- Study by Issam Saliba showed that LR+ for this was 2.91 in identifying a VS, which was superior to other definitions
√What is the differential for flat SNHL hearing loss? (4)
- Presbycusis (strial aka. metabolic type)
- Late Meniere’s disease
- Otosyphillis
- Vascular loop
Kevan 53
√What is the differential for high-frequency (down-sloping) hearing loss?
- Presbycusis (sensory, cochlear types)
- Ototoxic medications
- Neurodegenerative disorders (e.g. MS, DM)
- Retrocochlear lesion (e.g. VS)
- Alexander’s dysplasia
Kevan 54
√What is the differential for low frequency (reverse-sloping) hearing loss?
- Early otosclerosis
- Meniere’s disease
Kevan 54
√What is the differential for cookie-bite hearing loss pattern?
- Congenital hearing loss
- Cochlear otosclerosis
Kevan 54
√What is the differential for reverse cookie bite (tenting) hearing loss pattern?
- Cogan syndrome
- Meniere’s (late)
Kevan 54
√What are 12 viruses involved in SNHL?
- CMV (#1 cause of congenital viral deafness)
- Mumps (#1 cause of acquired unilateral SNHL)
- EBV
- Hepatitis
- HSV I & II
- Adenovirus
- Polio
- Varicella
- Variola (smallpox)
- Influenza
- Rubella
- Measles (Rubeola) - Warthin-Finkleday cells
xDiscuss the workplace noise allowances
- Canada (Federal) = 87dB x 8 hours; cut hours by 1/2 every 3dB (“exchange rate”)
- USA = 90 dB x 8 hours; cut hours by 1/2 ever 5dB
Protection must be worn ≥ 85dB
xWhat is the role of a workplace hearing conservation program? 4
- Measure workplace noise
- Reduce or control exposures (protection)
- Audiometric surveillance
- Education
xWhat is the pathophysiology of Noise-induced hearing loss?
- Outer hair cells are susceptible to damage from loud noises exposure, loss of hair cells may be due to oxygen radical formation with subsequent membrane and cellular damage
- Worst noises - impulse < 0.2ms, 2-3kHz energy, > 140dB HL (small guns)
xWhat is the clinical pattern of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL)?
- Permanent SNHL with damage principally to cochlear hair cells, primarily OHCs
- History of long-term exposure to dangerous noise levels (ie. > 85dB for 8h/day) sufficient to cause degree and pattern of HL by their audiogram
- A gradual loss of hearing over the first 5-10 years of exposure (hair cells most susceptible to damage and fastest degeneration in the first 10-15 years)
- Hearing loss that involves initially the higher frequencies from 3-8kHz, before including < 2kHz; Greatest sensitivity of human ear is to frequencies between 1-5kHz
- Speech recognition scores consistent with audiometric loss
- Hearing loss that stabilizes (progression stops) after the noise exposure is terminated
- Protective effect of stapedial reflex is < 2kHz intermittent loud sounds, more protective for the lower frequencies
xWhy does all noise induced HL have 4000 Hz notch?
“Boilermakers notch”
- Beginning region of impairment involves the sensitive mid-frequency rage, 3-6kHz, corresponding to the 4kHz notch (small region of hair cell and nerve fiber degeneration) – Hair cells at the basal turn are most susceptible to oxidative stress
- Also related to the fact that 3000Hz is the natural resonance frequency of the EAC, but routine audio only tests 4000Hz; and 5000Hz is the natural resonance frequency of the concha
√What is a temporary threshold shift in audiology?
What is a permanent threshold shift? What dB level is at risk?
- Depending on the level of sound exposure, either reversible or permanent damage can occur to the cochlea
- Reversible loss referred to as “temporary threshold shift (TTS)”
- Results from exposures to moderately intense sounds (e.g. loud concert, noisy power tools)
Hearing problems associated with TTS:
- Elevated thresholds, particularly higher mid-frequency region including 3-6 kHz frequencies
- Often associated with tinnitus, loudness recruitment, muffled sounds, or diplacusis
Recovery: can occur over minutes to hours or days (usually < 24 hours, up to 3 weeks)
- If threshold shifts do not fully recover, then referred to as permanent threshold shift
- Relationship between TTS and PTS is unknown, but anecdotally PTS occurs after repeated TTS - threshold shifts up to 50dB may recover spontaneously, anythiing above 50dB likely to have a degree of permanent threshold shift
√Describe permanent threshold shifts. What are two types of permanent threshold shifts (PTS)?
Permanent threshold shifts: Permanent cochlear damage, specifically to the outer hair cells.
- Occurs depending on frequency, intensity and duration of sound exposure
Two main causes:
- Acoustic trauma: caused by a single brief exposure to a very intense sound (e.g. explosive blast) that results in sudden, usually painful loss in hearing. Sudden violent changes in air pressure can produce direct mechanical damage to the peripheral auditory apparatus (e.g. cell injury or membrane rupture).
- Noise-induced hearing loss: Due to chronic exposure to less intense (but still harmful) levels of sounds - a slower, progressive destruction of cochlear components
√Define recruitment in audiology
- An abnormal increase in the perceived loudness produced by a relatively small increase in intensity above threshold
- Causing a compression in the dynamic range of perceived sound in patients with SNHL
- Observed in the frequencies that are most impaired (usually high frequencies), which also carry critical information for speech understanding
- Narrows the hearing range for loudness
xDefine Diplacusis in audiology
- Perceptor of a single auditory stimulus as two separate sounds which may differ in pitch or in time
xWhy is the stapedial reflex not fully protective against acoustic trauma?
Stapedial reflex has a latency time of 10ms and is triggered by noise > 90dB, thus if the noise exposure is sudden onset, the noise may have reached the cochlear causing damage before acoustic reflex is activated
xWhat are the symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss? 7
- SNHL (usually bilateral and symmetric)
- Tinnitus
- Recruitment
- Non-auditory (anxiety, etc.)
- Diplacusis
- Distortion
- Compared to presbycusis (can get severe to profound HL), NIHL usually no more than 40dB in low frequencies and no more than 70dB in the high frequencies
√Describe the AAO-HNS hearing handicap
Since the 1950s, the federal and state courts have maintained the liability of employers to compensate employees financially for hearing handicaps incurred as a result of job related conditions. The orderly and equitable payment of compensation for hearing handicap requires a means for determining not only the existence but also the EXTENT of hearing handicap.
AAO-HNS Assumptions:
1. Hearing loss does not begin handicapping until the PTA (0.5, 1, 2, 3 kHz) exceeds 25dB
2. Handicap grows at a rate of 1.5% per dB HL beyond 25dB
3. Unilateral deafness only a mild handicap
4. 2 ears should not be equally weighed
CALCULATIONS:
1. Monoaural impairment (MI) = 1.5(PTA-25) %
2. Hearing Handicap (HH) = [5(MI better ear) + (MI worse ear)]/6
- Breaking this down, the better ear contributes = HHb = MIb/2
- The worse ear contributes HHw = (2MIb + MIw)/6
If patient had previous hearing impairment, need to calculate contribution of the new injury on the current HH
Example:
- Before injury PTA R = PTA L = 45dB
- Injury to left ear only; PTAr 45, PTAl 85dB
- Overall HH to this is 40%
- Breaking down the ears, 15% of handicap is contributed by better ear (right), and 25% of the HH is contributed by the worse ear (left)
- The left ear was the only ear that got injured, so how much of that injury contributes to the HH?
- Left ear injury was 40dB worse (85-45), which worsened the ear by (40/85)% = 47%.
- We know that the left ear is contributing 25% overall to HH, so the new injury is contributing (47%) of (25%) to the overall HH (0.47x0.25 = 0.118).
- Therefore, the injury is responsible for 11.8% hearing handicap
https://aao-hnsfjournals-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/doi/epdf/10.1177/019459989010300512
https://www.asha.org/policy/rp1981-00022/
xHow do you counsel patients on hearing protection?
- Ear plugs: Reduce noise by 15-30dB, works bets in the 2-5kHz range
- Ear muffs: More effective protectors, reduces noies by 30-40dB, works best in 500-1000Hz
- Must be worn at all times ≥ 85dB, removal even for short periods severely reduces their effective cumulative attenuation capability
- e.g. 30dB effective attenuation is reduced to 13-15dB if earmuffs removed for 5% of an 8 hour day