[Hearing findings in subjects after meningitis]

It was proposed to ascertain the occurrence of individuals who present hearing loss, due to contracting meningitis, as well as to characterize the diagnosed loss as far as the type, degree and the audiometric configuration are concerned.

The methodology used comprised a survey of 949 references of patients attended at the Hearing Disturbance Center of the HPRLLP/USP, in order to select those who presented hearing loss after meningitis and, from the analysis of the hearing evaluation to which they were submitted, achieve the proposed goal.

The results indicated a 6.2 percent occurrence as regards hearing loss due to meningitis in relation to other causes and the characteristic of this hearing loss was predominantly sensorineural, symmetrical, al linear and to a profound degree.