Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Surgical Treatment of an Endolymphatic Sac Tumor
Published on: May 26, 2023
Indication for surgery in otosclerotic patients with unilateral hearing loss
Elio De Seta1, Gianluca Rispoli, Giorgio Balsamo
1Department of Neurology and Otolaryngology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. edeseta@yahoo.it
Objective:
The aim of this study is to evaluate postoperative spatial speech discrimination in noise in a group of otosclerotic patients with unilateral hearing loss in a 6-month follow-up. Moreover, an additional objective is to verify if our routine criteria (air-bone gap >30 dB at 250-2,000 Hz) for surgical indication in such patients can be acceptable.
Study Design:
Prospective evaluation in 20 patients divided into 2 groups: unilateral otosclerosis and bilateral otosclerosis already successfully operated on 1 side and planned for stapedotomy on the contralateral ear.
Setting:
Tertiary referral center, University clinic.
Patients:
Otosclerotic patients with unilateral hearing loss.
Intervention:
Evaluation of functional outcome.
Main Outcome Measure:
Spatial test based on speech discrimination in noise.
Results:
All patients reach postoperative air-bone gap closure within 10 dB. Average postoperative gain in discrimination under noise was 11.5% for unilateral otosclerosis group and 19.3% for the second ear group.
Conclusion:
Free-field discrimination in noise closely reflects the usual listening conditions in everyday life. Improvement in postoperative free-field discrimination in noise can justify our routine criteria for surgical indication in the patients with unilateral otosclerosis and with bilateral otosclerosis already operated on 1 side. The surgical choice for each patient, apart from audiologic evaluation, is linked to a truly informed consent regarding possible advantages and risks mainly based on an analysis of the real auditory needs of the patient and individual results of the surgeon.
