Title: A clinical study on hearing loss caused by labyrinthine concussion
Abstract: Objective To study features of audiologic changes caused by mild closed head injury and their utilities in clinical diagnosis and medicolegal assessment. Methods 85 cases of patients with mild closed head injury were identified. Detailed case histories were collected. A series of tests were conducted, including head or temporal bone CT scans, in addition to otology and neurology examinations. Audiologic testing included pure tone audiometry, acoustic immitance, auditory brainstem response (ABR), and 40 Hz auditory event related potentials (AERP). Results (1) Most cases showed mild to moderate post-injury sensorineural hearing loss, with a few showing severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss. Some patients had mixed hearing loss. Post-injury clinical manifestations included tinnitus, fullness in the ear, vertigo, nausea/vomiting, etc. (2) The degrees of hearing loss changed along with time, but remained different from normal (P 0.05). Hearing loss was mostly in the high-frequency range. (3) Except forⅠ-Ⅲ and Ⅰ-Ⅴ intervals, latency and interpeak latency parameters were different from the normal (P 0.05). Conclusion (1) Mild closed head injury can cause labyrinth concussion, which results in high-frequency hearing loss and brain stem injury. Vestibular dysfunction can happen in some patients. Time factor should be considered when determining post-head injury hearing loss. (2) Our data indicate that combined use of ABR and 40 Hz AERP can improve diagnosis accuracy. Such test results can help provide objective basis in clinical diagnosis and when making medicolegal decisions.
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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