Evaluation of the Presence of Sensorineural Hearing Loss and the Relationship With Intraoperative Findings in Cholesteatoma

We investigated whether cholesteatoma is associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and the effects of a lateral semicircular canal (LSCC) fistula, destruction of stapes, localization of cholesteatoma, and air–bone gap (ABG) size on SNHL. The charts of 159 patients who had received surgery for unilateral cholesteatoma were examined retrospectively. In all patients, air conduction and bone conduction (BC) thresholds in both ears were measured at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Differences in BC thresholds between ears with cholesteatoma and contralateral ears were calculated. Demographics, localization of cholesteatoma, presence of LSCC fistula, condition of stapes, and ABG size on the affected ear were evaluated. There were significantly greater BC thresholds in ears with cholesteatoma than in normal ears for each frequency. Comparing the average BC differences at the different cholesteatoma locations, there were significant differences between the tympanic cavity + all mastoid cell group and attic, attic + antrum, and tympanic cavity + antrum groups. The BC differences at 4000 Hz were significantly high in patients with LSCC fistula. There were no significant relationships between the condition of the stapes and BC differences at any frequencies. There were significant correlations between average ABG and BC threshold differences at all frequencies. A significant relationship was found between cholesteatoma and SNHL. Patients with advanced cholesteatoma had significantly higher levels of SNHL. The BC threshold differences increased with increases in the ABG.