Possible Effects of Chronic Otitis Media with and without Cholesteatoma on Bone Conduction Thresholds: An Evaluation of 112 Cases

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate any possible effects of chronic otitis media (COM), with or without accompanying cholesteatoma, on bone conduction thresholds (BCT). Methods: A total of 112 cases who underwent surgery for unilateral COM between 2006 and 2014 were enrolled in the study. Eighty cases had no cholesteatoma (Group 1). Thirty-two cases did have cholesteatoma (Group 2). Prior to surgery, the temporal bone was evaluated radiologically by use of high resolution computed tomography. The presence of a clinically and radiologically normal contralateral ear was the principal selection criterion for the cases. BCT at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz and their averages were evaluated with pure tone audiogram (PTA) and the normal and diseased ears in each group were compared. This comparison was also made between the diseased ears in Groups 1 and 2. Results: There was a statistically significant difference observed between the mean BCT scores obtained by PTA for the normal/diseased ears in Group 1(9.78 +/- 0.98/17.34 +/- 1.71 dB) and in Group 2 (9.10 +/- 0.99/17.58 +/- 2.59 dB). This statistically significant difference was observed for each of the four different frequencies (p<0.0001). However, there was no statistically significant difference observed between the mean BCT scores obtained by PTA for the diseased ears in Groups 1 and 2 (17.34 +/- 1.71/17.58 +/- 2.59 dB). Similarly, in the comparison between the diseased ears, the differences of BCT at all four different frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) lacked statistical significance (p>0.05). Conclusion: As a result of this study, we can say that COM may lead to sensorineural hearing loss. However, we observed that the presence of cholesteatoma does not exert an additional negative effect on cochlear function.