Sensorineural Hearing Loss as the Prominent Symptom in Meningeal Carcinomatosis

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) has been reported rarely in patients with meningeal carcinomatosis (MC). We summarized the clinical data of eight MC patients with SNHL and 35 patients reported from publications. In the eight patients with SNHL, the medium onset age was 48 (range from 37 to 66) years and six (75%) were male. Seven (87.5%) suffered from headaches as the initial symptom, and they experienced SNHL during the first two months after the occurrence of headaches (0.5 to 2 months, average 1.5 months). The audiogram configuration was flat in three patients (37.5%) and showed total deafness in five patients (62.5%). The damage of cranial nerves VI (abducens) was observed in six patients (75%), and four patients (50%) had cranial nerves VII (facial) injury during the disease course. The percentage of damage of cranial nerves was higher than the patients without SNHL (VIth, 75.0% vs. 13.3%, p = 0.002 and VIIth 50.0% vs. 6.7%, p = 0.012). Four (50%) patients suffered from lung adenocarcinoma as primary tumor, two (25%) experienced stomach adenocarcinoma, one had colon cancer, and one patient was unknown. The symptom of SNHL improved after individualized therapy in four patients (focal radiotherapy and chemotherapy for three patients and whole brain radiotherapy for one patient), but all passed away from 2 to 11 months after diagnosis. Total deafness and flat hearing loss in audiogram were the common types of SNHL resulting from MC. MC patients with SNHL were more likely to suffer from the damage of other cranial nerves, especially to cranial nerves VI and VII. Treatment might improve SNHL, but not improve the case fatality rate.

Neonatal Hearing Screening

Around the world 10 million people have some type or degree of auditory problem, of them, between 200,000 and 400,000 have total deafness. Estimating that a large population presents this problem from birth (61%), with an incidence of 1 to 3 of every 1000 newborns. For this reason, early implementation through the neonatal auditory sieve allows timely detection to respond early to the hearing impairment of the newborn, as the ideal age to carry out rehabilitation with the help of an auditory auxiliary and initiate Language therapy is at six months of age. Most of the international guides for the integral attention to persons with auditory disability it indicates that all newborns should be screened Auditory before his hospital discharge. The prevalence of auditory disturbances in our environment is 0.3%, a proportion that places us above national and global statistics, so it is very important to screen all newborns including those who do not have Apparent risk factors in order to establish the appropriate diagnosis, the necessary treatment and thus avoid delays in neurodevelopment.

Hearing loss in patients with extracranial complications of chronic otitis media

Objective: A pure tone audiomety analysis of patients with extracranial complications of chronic suppurative otitis media (ECCSOM). Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed audiometric data performed before treatment from 63 patients with ECCSOM (56 single, 7 multiple complications) including groups of frequencies. Results: The greatest levels of hearing loss were noted for 6 and 8 kHz (79.0 and 75.7 dBHL) and for the frequency groups high tone average (76.1 dBHL). As regards the severity of hearing impairment in pure tone average the prevalence of complications was as follows: labyrinthitis (77.8±33.6 dBHL), facial palsy (57.1±14.3 dBHL), perilymphatic fistula (53.9±19.9 dBHL) and mastoiditis (42.2±9.5 dBHL) (p=0.023). Conclusions: Hearing loss in ECCSOM is dominated by mixed, high-tone, moderate type of hearing loss, most profound in labyrinthitis. In 11% of patients the complication causes total deafness.