Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 4, 2026
Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Hearing Assessment after Treatment of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma with CRT and IMRT Techniques
Chung-Feng Hwang1, Fu-Min Fang2, Ming-Ying Zhuo3
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan.
Objectives:
This study analyzed the long-term hearing loss after treatment of primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma to elucidate its causal factors.
Methods:
Ninety-two nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients were treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Pure tone audiometry was performed before the therapy and annually up to 9 years after completing treatment. The hearing thresholds were corrected for age-related deterioration and compared to the results without adjusting for age.
Results:
The mean air and bone conduction threshold with and without correction for age-related deterioration differed significantly 2-9 years after completing radiotherapy (p < 0.05). The audiometry results with age correction showed a flattened configuration compared to the results without age correction. The total radiation dose and radiation modality showed a causal relationship with a greater incidence of hearing loss after therapy (p < 0.05). There was more deterioration in the air and bone hearing thresholds with conformal radiotherapy than intensity-modulated radiotherapy (p < 0.001). A radiation dose >72 cGy resulted in more severe hearing loss than <72 cGy (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Hearing loss after completing therapy should be corrected for age-related hearing deterioration to reveal the true extent to which the loss is a therapeutic complication. Both the radiation modality used and the dose were significantly associated with hearing loss.
