Hearing evaluation in patients with vertigo
Konopka, W.ła.; Mielczarek, M.; Michalski, M.; Olszewski, J.; Pietkiewicz, P.
Otolaryngologia Polska 60(2): 239-241
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0030-6657 PMID: 16903346 Document Number: 600617
Vertigo is one of the most frequent and disturbing sensations that the practicing otolaryngologist is called upon to treat. Vertigo is the illusory sensation of motion. True vertigo is caused by pathology in the peripheral end organ, the vestibular nerve, and the pathways that connect them in the brainstem and rarely, in the cortex. The aim of this study was to evaluate hearing in people with vertigo according to the etiology of balance disorders. The study comprised 127 patients treated in our clinic between 1999 and 2004, 88 women and 39 men (254 ears) aged 24-90 years. The average age was 56. Hearing tests (pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, impedance audiometry, auditory brainstem responses, OAE) as well as vestibular function tests (electronystagmography, rotational chair tests, caloric tests) were performed. In order to evaluate the nature of vertigo radiological diagnostics (head and cervical computer tomography, vascular diagnostics using Doppler sonography) was performed. Audiometric testing showed impaired hearing in 71 of 127 subjects. Among 73 patients with vertigo of vascular origin caused by vertebrae-basilar insufficiency, bilateral cochlear lesion was noticed in 33 cases and unilateral in 9. In 8 patients with cervical ankylosing spondylitis 3 had cochlear hearing loss (1--unilateral, 2--bilateral). In our group of patients with vertigo in the most of cases the hearing loss was on cochlear origin.