OBJECTIVE: To determine the agreement between Otoacoustic Emission and "Baah" tests for detecting binaural hearing loss in infants referred for hearing evaluation in a local community setting.
METHOD: This is a retrospective review done in a Private Community-based Secondary Specialty Hospital. Bilateral hearing test results of 788 neonates and infants obtained between September 2011 and January 2013 using human voice "BAAH" test and OAE were reviewed from January 2014 to September 2015.
RESULTS: There were 432 males and 356 females (male: female ratio 1.2:1) with a mean age of 11.17 days (range of 0-143 days). Of the 780 infants with bilateral "Pass" using OAE, all were screened as "with response" by "Baah" tests. Five infants with bilateral "refer" results using OAE yielded "no response" on "Baah" test. Sensitivity of 'Baah' test was 100%, specificity was 99.5%, with positive predictive value of 62.5%, and negative predictive value of 100%. There was good agreement noted between OAE and "Baah" (kappa=.77, p<.001).
CONCLUSION: The "Baah" test is a possible alternative to OAE in initially detecting binaural hearing loss in areas where equipment and personnel are limited. Although "Baah" test could only detect 62% of infants with binaural hearing loss and could not detect unilateral hearing loss, infants detected with binaural hearing loss can be immediately referred to centers with more sophisticated equipment.

Hearing Tests ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic ear surgery is one of the most common procedures performed for hearing gain. The two methods, which are used for evaluating hearing ability of the patients, are the `15/30 dB rule of thumb' and the `Glasgow Benefit Plot'. Few studies in the literature have reported hearing results by the Glasgow benefit plot method. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of binaural hearing benefit after chronic ear surgery by the Glasgow benefit plot method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-five records were selected from database of 1300 chronic ear surgery performed from 1989 through 2001. All subjects had bilateral hearing loss greater than 30 dB hearing level and could be followed up audiometrically longer than 12 months after the surgery. RESULTS: From the Glasgow benefit plot method, the same hearing (inter-aural difference < or =10 dB in air conduction threshold) was achieved in 40% of the subjects (26/65), and better hearing (>10 dB in air conduction threshold better than those of non-operated ear) was achieved in 25% of the subjects (16/65). CONCLUSION: The Glasgow benefit plot method is a useful method for evaluating subjective benefit of binaural hearing in bilateral chronic otitis media after chronic ear surgery. It has encouraged surgeons to look at the results of their surgery from a more functional standpoint rather than in purely technical terms.
Ear ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis*

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) develops usually in unilateral ear without known etiology. In contrast, bilateral sudden SNHL is mostly related to serious systemic diseases and have a severe hearing loss and poor prognosis compared than unilateral one. We describe here a 59-year-old man presented with a bilateral sudden SNHL and vertigo possibly attributed to dolichoectasia in vertebrobasilar artery, and discuss the possible mechanism.
Arteries ; Ear ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency ; Vertigo

PURPOSE: Spatial hearing refers to the ability to understand speech and identify sounds in various environments. We assessed the validity of the Korean version of the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire (K-SHQ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed forward translation of the original English SHQ to Korean and backward translation from the Korean to English. Forty-eight patients who were able to read and understand Korean and received a score of 24 or higher on the Mini-Mental Status Examination were included in the study. Patients underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) using a standard protocol and completed the K-SHQ. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, and factor analysis was performed to prove reliability. Construct validity was tested by comparing K-SHQ scores from patients with normal hearing to those with hearing impairment. Scores were compared between subjects with unilateral or bilateral hearing loss and between symmetrical and asymmetrical hearing impairment. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha showed good internal consistency (0.982). Two factors were identified by factor analysis: There was a significant difference in K-SHQ scores for patients with normal hearing compared to those with hearing impairment. Patients with asymmetric hearing impairment had higher K-SHQ scores than those with symmetric hearing impairment. This is related to a lower threshold of PTA in the better ear of subjects. The hearing ability of the better ear is correlated with K-SHQ score. CONCLUSION: The K-SHQ is a reliable and valid tool with which to assess spatial hearing in patients who speak and read Korean. K-SHQ score reflects the severity and symmetry of hearing impairment.
Audiometry ; Ear ; Hearing Loss* ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Sound Localization

Child ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; etiology ; Humans ; Mumps ; complications

PURPOSE: Patients with Turner syndrome have been frequently suspected to have associated various otologic disorders and hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the otologic problems in children with Turner Syndrome. METHODS: Twenty patients aged 5 to 20 years who were diagnosed as Turner syndrome were evaluated audiologically. RESULTS: Five subjects (25.0%) had previous histories of otitis media. An audiological examination was performed for all subjects and revealed normal hearing in 13 patients (65.0%), unilateral hearing loss in 3 patients (15.0%) and bilateral hearing loss in 4 patients (20.0%). Type of the hearing loss was conductive in 3 ears (7.5%), mixed in 2 ears (5.0%) and sensorineural in 6 ears (15.0%). Degree of hearing loss was mild in 9 ears, moderate in 1 ear and moderately severe in 1 ear. The incidence of hearing loss according to the karyotype revealed 10 ears (41.7%) in total deletion of Xp but only 1 ear (6.3%) in partial deletion of Xp. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the otitis media and hearing loss were one of the common findings in children with Turner syndrome. These results emphasize the importance of regular otological examinations and audiological evaluation in children with Turner syndrome for quality of life.
Child* ; Ear ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Unilateral ; Humans ; Incidence ; Karyotype ; Otitis Media ; Quality of Life ; Turner Syndrome*

Wernicke encephalopathy is a syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency whose three typical symptoms are ophthalomoplegia, ataxia, and confusion. There are also rare reports of bilateral hearing loss, which can be caused by damage to the bilateral inferior colliculus or thalamic lesions, or by energy failure of the cochlea. This case suggests that thiamine should be administered based on the possibility of Wernicke encephalopathy occurring in malnourished or alcoholic patients with sudden bilateral hearing loss.
Alcoholics ; Ataxia ; Cochlea ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Humans ; Inferior Colliculi ; Thiamine ; Thiamine Deficiency ; Wernicke Encephalopathy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current situation of early diagnosis and intervention in 0-9 months old infants with hearing loss and analysis factors that will affect early diagnosis and intervention. METHOD: One hundred and eighty-six infants referred to the West China hospital from February 2014 to September 2014 were included. All 186 children were referred due to the fact that either they failed infant hearing screening or outer ear malformation. Early diagnosis and/or intervention were performed on those 186 children and their records of early diagnosis and intervention were analyzed. RESULT: Among the 186 infants, 167 (89.8%) were diagnosed with an average age at (4.0 ± 1.4) months. Among the 167 infants with final diagnosis, there were 31 (18.6%) infants diagnosed as conductive hearing loss (CHL), and 99 cases (59.3%) diagnosed as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), among whom, there were 75 (44.9%) bilateral SNHL and 24 (14.4%) unilateral SNHL. There were 2 cases (1.20%) with SNHL on one side and atresia on the other side. 5 (2.99%) of all conductive hearing loss cases with unilateral atresia and 2 cases with auditory neuropathy (AN) were found. 33 infants (19.8%) were found to have normal hearing. 30.7% (23/75) infants diagnosed as bilateral SNHL and 8.3% (2/24) infants diagnosed as unilateral SNHL were fitted with hearing aids. The fitting rate in infants with bilateral SNHL with mild, moderate, severe to profound degrees were 0 (0/23), 24.0% (6/25), 66.7% (6/9), 61.1% (11/18) respectively. The average intervention age was (5.0 ± 2.1) months. CONCLUSION Although the early diagnosis and intervention situation in this study are very close to international standard, there are still infants without final diagnosis and infants with hearing loss without hearing aid fitting. Further studies and efforts to promote early diagnosis and intervention in infants with hearing loss are needed.
China ; Deafness ; Early Diagnosis ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Central ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; diagnosis ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; diagnosis ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn

Granulomatosis with polyangiitisis [(GPA) or Wegener granulomatosis] is a multi-system disease characterized by granuloma formation and necrotizing vasculitis. GPA classically shows involvement of the respiratory tracts and the renal system. However, locoregional disease is common and may include otologic manifestations. Although otologic involvement can occur during the course of GPA, no report has described facial palsy with sudden sensorineural total deafness with vertigo as the presenting feature of GPA. This case describes a patient with multiorgan involving resistant form of GPA initially presenting with bilateral profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss and left facial paralysis with vertigo. The condition responded well to treatment with rituximab.
Deafness ; Facial Paralysis* ; Granuloma ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing Loss, Sudden* ; Humans ; Respiratory System ; Rituximab ; Vasculitis ; Vertigo

OBJECTIVETo analyze the audiologic results of cochlear implantation in bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss following head trauma.

METHODSA retrospective study of our cochlear implantation cases in bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss following head trauma (with or without temporal bone fractures). Four patients in second hospital of Shandong university were analyzed in this study.

RESULTSAll the patients received unilateral cochlear implantation and gained open-set speech perception ranging from 92% to 100%. The aided hearing threshold ranged from 30 dBHL to 35 dBHL. None of them experienced a decrease in the hearing performance in the follow-up (1-2 years).

CONCLUSIONWith sufficient preoperative assessment, cochlear implantation is an effective management for hearing rehabilitation in bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss following head trauma.

China ; Cochlear Implantation ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; surgery ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Speech Perception