Middle ear disease in young children with sensorineural hearing loss

Early identification of children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), coupled with the provision of appropriate conventional amplification constitute important elements of a (re)habilitative strategy. Often overlooked, however, is the problem posed by recurrent and chronic middle ear disease in the child with coexisting SNHL. This study focuses on 437 (237 boys and 200 girls) consecutive patients with bilateral SNHL, in the moderate range or poorer, who were diagnosed prior to age 5 years at Boys Town National Research Hospital. The mean threshold shift with effusion was 25.0 dB at 250 Hz, 28.5 dB at 500 Hz, 29.5 dB at 1000 Hz, 24.5 dB at 2000 Hz, and 27.5 dB at 4000 Hz. During a median follow-up period of 3.21 years, 154 (35.2%) of these children required surgical placement of tympanostomy tubes because of the severity of middle ear disease and its impact on auditory acuity. Accurate determination of the degree and audiologic configuration of a SNHL may be seriously hindered by a coexisting middle ear effusion. If initial findings indicate the presence of a middle ear effusion, measures of auditory function must be repeated after the effusion has been resolved by medical and/or surgical intervention.