Analysis of hearing loss in middle ear cholesteatoma

Objective To study features of hearing loss in human middle ear cholesteatoma for the purpose of preventing the development of cholesteatoma. Methods Audiometric data in 156 cases (156 ears) of middle ear cholesteatoma were reviewed and compared to the degree of ossicular destruction. Results Of the 156 patients, 84 were males and 72 were females, aging 6 to 78 years (average 32.98 years). Hearing loss was not correlated to sex, age, ethnicity or disease duration (P 0.05). Bone conduction thresholds were different at different frequencies (P 0.01). Ossicular destruction was not correlated to sex, age or ethnicity, but to disease duration (P 0.01). Conclusion Bone conduction hearing thresholds indicate mainly hearing damage in the 2 ~ 4 kHz range in middle ear cholesteatoma. Ossicular destruction increases as the duration of ear disease prolongs.