Cholesteatoma Is Associated With Pediatric Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
Jordan M Racca, John Lee, Faith Sikorski and 2 others
PMID 34860720WHAT IT FOUND
Cholesteatoma codes were associated with progressive sensorineural hearing loss in children.
In the cholesteatoma cohort, bone-conduction thresholds worsened by 10 to 57.5 dB, often from normal, and air-conduction testing alone identified fewer cases.
Key findings
01Cholesteatoma diagnostic codes were among the diagnostic codes identified as associated with pediatric progressive sensorineural hearing loss.
02In children with cholesteatoma and progressive hearing loss, masked bone-conduction four-frequency averages shifted by 10 to 57.5 dB, and many ears started with normal hearing.
03All 68 ears in the cholesteatoma progressive group met progression criteria by masked bone-conduction thresholds, but only 39 ears, or 57%, met them by air-conduction thresholds.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and used electronic records, so it could not show that cholesteatoma caused the hearing loss. Only patients who could complete masked bone-conduction testing at four frequencies on at least three dates were included, so the sample may not represent all children with cholesteatoma. The strict criteria prevented accurate estimation of incidence. Diagnostic coding practices varied across institutions and clinicians, and the analysis could not account for all coding differences. The cholesteatoma analyses were relatively small, with 58 subjects in the progressive group and 55 in the stable group. Mastoidectomy surgeries were common in both groups, and the study did not show how surgery counts related to hearing shift.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cholesteatoma causes progressive sensorineural hearing loss. This was an association study using existing records, and it did not establish timing, mechanism, or incidence; mastoidectomy surgeries were also common in the children studied.