Management and outcomes of acute mastoiditis (AM) have been clearly
defined in a systematic review of 19 studies. We are often asked by
concerned parents- what are the hearing prospects for the long run. Yet,
to the best of our knowledge, the issue of future hearing has not been
addressed.
We hypothesized that children could remain with conductive hearing loss
(CHL) and possibly, develop sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) due to the
disease process itself, or from the drilling in the mastoid bone.
We performed a cross-sectional study and describe the audiometry results
of children admitted for AM, among conservatively treated (group 1) and
those who underwent a cortical mastoidectomy and insertion of a VT
(group 2).
Between 2010 and 2020 we treated 280 children with AM. Twenty- four had
an available audiogram, 12 in each group, performed on average 20 months
after presentation with AM. Audiograms were performed either for
suspicion of hearing loss or as a follow- up exam, after extrusion of
the ventilation tube and there were no abnormal otoscopic findings.
A definite CHL of 10 to 20 dB
could be diagnosed in 3 of the 5 patients in each group, who had bone
conduction thresholds measured. SNHL was not observed in any of the
patients old enough to have bone conduction tested. Among the younger
patients, examined with free field testing, all had normal thresholds. A
CHL of 10dBs was seen in the contralateral ear in one of the patients in
group 1 and in 3 from group 2.