Is there “hidden hearing loss” in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis?

Abstract

Objective: This study was to investigate whether there is impairment of auditory function in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Study sample: A total of 85 patients were allocated into either the CRS group (n = 65) or a simple deviated nasal septum group (n = 20). Both groups without other risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss exhibited normal thresholds at standard audiometric frequencies. Another group (n = 30) of healthy subjects without CRS or a deviated nasal septum were gender and age matched.

Design: Analyse the results of audiology test including pure tone audiometry, an acoustic impedance test, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and the auditory brainstem response (ABR) for each subject analyse the test results of for each object.

Results: The group differences were statistically significant for each high-frequency pure tone (p < 0.05). The ABR showed a difference between groups in amplitude. The DPOAE pass rate of the CRS group was lower than that of the control group.

Conclusions: This study showed a significant correlation between CRS and auditory impairment. CRS might impair cochlear functions by damaging inner ear hair cells and/or, outer hair cells (OHCs), consequently altering the activity of the entire auditory pathway originating in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) to the inferior colliculus.

Keywords:

• Hidden hearing loss
• chronic rhinosinusitis
• auditory impairment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data sharing statement

All data generated during the project will be made freely available by the corresponding author when reasonably required. There are no security, licencing or ethical issues related to these data.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was made possible by the Sailing Fund of Fujian Medical University [2017XQ1092].