Hearing Thresholds In Patients Research Articles

Hearing loss in patients with diabetic retinopathy

With use of standard audiometric procedures, the hearing thresholds of patients with known diabetic retinopathy did not differ significantly from those of a control population group. However, use of a more subtle psychoacoustic tool--a filtered speech task--showed a definite difference in hearing acuity between the two groups.

Hearing of patients with cystic fibrosis.

To our knowledge this is the first known study dealing with hearing thresholds in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results indicate that 27% of the evaluated CF patients had mild conductive hearing losses at the time of the initial examination. The hearing losses were due to upperrespiratory tract (URT) involvement, especially pathological changes in the middle ear. This is consistent with pathophysiological problems inherent in patients with CF. There is a higher incidence of hearing loss in this group of patients than is expected in the school age population (5% to 7%). The audiograms included in this study indicate a direct correlation with the integrity the URT, and in particular they seem to reflect the condition and the function of the middle ear. Periodic audiological studies should supplement clinical evaluation of patients with CF.

The hearing of patients with cystic fibrosis.

To our knowledge this is the first known study dealing with hearing thresholds in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results indicate that 27% of the evaluated CF patients had mild conductive hearing losses at the time of the initial examination. The hearing losses were due to upperrespiratory tract (URT) involvement, especially pathological changes in the middle ear. This is consistent with pathophysiological problems inherent in patients with CF. There is a higher incidence of hearing loss in this group of patients than is expected in the school age population (5% to 7%). The audiograms included in this study indicate a direct correlation with the integrity the URT, and in particular they seem to reflect the condition and the function of the middle ear. Periodic audiological studies should supplement clinical evaluation of patients with CF.