[Hearing disorders in patients with adhesive otitis media].

This paper presents the results of audiological examinations of 76 patients, aged 18 to 60 years, with adhesive nonperforative otitis media. The hearing function was measured in terms of threshold tonal audiometry, ultrasound hearing sensitivity, lower limit of sound frequency perception, discomfortable loudness, dynamic range of the hearing field, speech intelligibility in the masking noisy environment. In 30% of cases hypoacusis accompanying adhesive otitis media showed symptoms that were similar to those of hypoacusis resulting from inner ear pathologies (descending audiometric curves with high hearing thresholds related to bone conduction and small bone-air interval, high thresholds of ultrasound perception, normal lower limits of sound frequency perception and positive recruitment). Study of speech intellibility in a masking noisy environment can be a good test for the diagnosis of adhesive otitis media, including the cases aggravated with secondary cochlear neuritis. The pathognomonic parameter is good speech intelligibility in both silent and noisy environments.