Is there "hidden hearing loss" in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis?

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.