Objective: To conduct audiological assessment in patients with tympanosclerosis.
Methods: A retrospective review was conducted in 79 patients with tympanosclerosis (involving 79 ears) with complete records, including 30 patients (30 ears) with fixed Malleus-incus complex, 29 (29 ears) with fixed stapes, and 20 (20 ears) with fixations of both the stapes footplate and the Malleus-incus complex. Audiometry was performed for all the patients one or two days before operation, and the audiological features of the patients were compared between the 3 groups.
Results: Most of the patients (65.8%) suffered conductive hearing loss, 32.9% had mixed deafness, and one patient had sensorineural hearing loss. No statistically significant differences was noted in the speech frequency (0.5, 1, and 2 kHz) air conduction pure tone average (PTA) or the air-bone gap (ABG) in the 3 groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Most of the patients with tympanosclerosis suffer conductive hearing loss, and the severity of hearing loss is not associated with the site of tympanosclerosis.