Sensorineural hearing loss in chronic suppurative otitis media with and without cholesteatoma

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) related to chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) was studied to clarify the involvement of cholesteatomas in this context. Aim: to evaluate SNHL related to CSOM and its association with cholesteatomas, disease duration and patients’ ages. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 115 patients with CSOM with and without cholesteatoma submitted to surgical treatment. Inclusion criteria were active unilateral disease, normal contralateral ear and age below 60 years. Results: The average age was 26.3 years, 58 males and 57 females. The duration of ear disease was, in average, 12.4 years. The average threshold of hearing was 40 dB in CSOM ear and 22 dB in the normal contralateral ear (P=0.002). CSOM with cholesteatoma occurred in 78 of 115 cases. In the abnormal ear, SNHL was seen in 15 cases, being 6 cases of profound loss, that correlated with adjusted-age (P=0.003) and absence of cholesteatoma (P=0.01), but not with disease duration (P=0.458). Conclusion: SNHL occurred in 13% of the patients with CSOM, and was correlated with older age, but not with the presence of cholesteatoma or longer duration of ear disease.