DEGREE OF HEARING LOSS IN INACTIVE MUCOSAL CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA AND ITS CORRELATION WITH SITE AND SIZE OF TYMPANIC MEMBRANE PERFORATION- AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Studies have persistently associated the site and size of the tympanic membrane (TM) with the magnitude of hearing loss;however,the results are mixed and inconclusive on the effect of the site of the perforation on the hearing loss. Therefore, we conducted the present study to investigate the relationship between the size and site of TM perforation and hearing loss in inactive mucosal chronic otitis media. Methods: We conducted a hospital-based observational, prospective study in the Postgraduate Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Government Medical College Srinagar, and recruited 94 patients diagnosed to have inactive mucosal chronic otitis media with dry tympanic membrane perforation. In addition to the site and size of TM perforation, the magnitude of hearing loss was also estimated. Results: We recruited 94 subjects presenting acute otitis media with TP perforation. The mean age (±SD) of cases was 36.3(±4) and males showed a marginal over-representation over females (male to female ratio: 1.2:1). We observed a positive correlation of the size of TM perforation with the average hearing loss. Moreover, subjects having perforations in the posterior ear reported higher average hearing loss. Conclusion: We report a positive correlation of the size of TM perforation with the average hearing loss and subjects having perforations in the posterior ear reported higher average hearing loss. However, more replicative studies with a larger sample size are warranted to substantiate our findings.