Sensorineural hearing loss in bullous myringitis. A prospective study of eighteen patients

Abstract

Eighteen patients were seen over a period of 3 years. Twenty of their ears were diagnosed as having bullous myringitis. Pure tone audiograms and stapedial reflexes were performed within 48 h of referral. Six ears demonstrated sensorineural hearing loss, 7 ears mixed loss and 4 conductive loss. Recovery of sensorineural hearing loss complete in 8 out of 13 ears. Stapedial reflexes were elicited in 5 patients and all showed recruitment. The findings of this study confirms the fact that sensorineural hearing loss is more common in bullous myringitis than previously thought and that it is temporary in many cases. The stapedial reflex results suggest that the site of the lesion is in the cochlea.

The epidemiology of acute bullous myringitis and its relationship to recurrent acute otitis media in children less than 2 years of age

“…The incidence of bullous myringitis was 1.8 times higher in boys compared with girls. In the other studies a slight majority (50-60%) of patients consisted of boys [3,7,13,14]. The proportion of boys was also higher in comparison with the proportion of boys in AOM children, although AOM also occurs more often in boys.…”

“…Most episodes occur in winter months [3,7,13] and a slightly higher proportion occurs in males [3,7,13,14]. The majority of cases of bullous myringitis are diagnosed at the age of 2-8 years [4,5,7,13].…”

Myringitis: An update

“…2. Due to the accompanying middle ear fluid, most of these patients would have conductive hearing loss, however, the sensorineural hearing would also be abnormal in more than half of the BM patients (Drendel et al, 2012; Hoffman and Shepsman, 1983; Hariri, 1990; Eliashar et al, 2004). The mechanism of reduced sensorineural thresholds in these patients is not clearly understood.…”

“…Nevertheless, the hearing loss and the vestibular dysfunction are supposedly transient, and they recover after the relief of otitis media in most of these affected individuals (Eliashar et al, 2004). But some patients may have a persistent sensorineural hearing loss (Drendel et al, 2012; Hoffman and Shepsman, 1983; Hariri, 1990).…”

Myringitis bullosa haemorrhagica: clinical course influenced by tympanosclerosis

“…Alternatively, if a patient presents at a later stage, the bullae may have ruptured givng rise to bleeding and serosanguinous discharge, leaving only the outline of the blebs visible on otoscopy. When uncomplicated, hearing loss is usually transient, conductive and mild although neurosensory hearing loss has been reported following the condition (Hoffman and Shepsman, 1983;Lashin et al, 1988;Hariri, 1990). The diagnosis of the myringitis bullosa haemorrhagica is a clinical one with histological appearances not having been described in the literature.…”