Bacterial meningitis and hearing impairment: A prospective study.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the incidence and the pattern of post-meningitis hearing impairment. A prospective study of 68 meningitis patients was performed. The patients' hearing was evaluated immediately following acute illness and periodically checked for two years. The incidences of the initial sensorineural and conductive deafness were 26.4% and 20.6%, respectively. Two patients (3%) suffered from mixed deafness. No consistent audiometric pattern was found in the cases of sensorineural hearing loss. Serial hearing evaluations demonstrated complete recovery of all cases of conductive hearing loss with only a slight improvement in the low tones noted in one patient with sensorineural hearing loss. No late development of sensorineural loss has occurred.