ABSTRACT
Hearing was tested in 18 patients with Pierre Robin syndrome (PRS). These results were compared with those obtained for 243 patients with either cleft lip or cleft palate, or both. None of the PRS group patients had middle ear or inner ear malformations, or sensorineural hearing loss in speech frequencies. Hearing loss in PRS is usually conductive, bilateral, and more frequent in PRS patients (30 ears or 83.33%) than in patients who do not have PRS (290 ears or 59.67%). A significantly higher (p < .01) mean of hearing loss for air conduction in speech frequencies (MHLSF = 24.5 dB) was found in PRS patients than in patients without PRS (MHLSF = 17.8 dB). The ears of the PRS patients with hearing loss were examined, revealing middle ear effusion. In all cases, hearing was restored to a normal level through suction and the use of ventilation tubes.
Subject(s)
Hearing Loss/etiology , Hearing/physiology , Pierre Robin Syndrome/complications , Adolescent , Adult , Audiometry, Pure-Tone , Auditory Threshold/physiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Cleft Lip/complications , Cleft Lip/physiopathology , Cleft Palate/complications , Cleft Palate/physiopathology , Hearing Loss/surgery , Hearing Loss, Bilateral/etiology , Hearing Loss, Bilateral/surgery , Hearing Loss, Conductive/etiology , Hearing Loss, Conductive/surgery , Humans , Middle Ear Ventilation , Otitis Media with Effusion/etiology , Otitis Media with Effusion/surgery , Pierre Robin Syndrome/physiopathology , Speech/physiology , SuctionABSTRACT
Hearing threshold in cleft lip/or palate was assessed in 316 ears by pure tone audiometry. Normal hearing threshold was found in almost a half (164/51,9%) of the ears examined. Hearing defects were most frequently observed in cases of complete unilateral cleft palate (48/60%), whereas they were least frequently recorded in cases of cleft lip (15/19,2%). Complete bilateral cleft lip and palate was associated with conduction deafness in 29 (42,9%) ears examined, thus occupying the last but one place according to the frequency of association between deafness and cleft defects. A hearing conduction gap or more than 40 dB was most frequently present in complete cleft lip and palate (7/5,6%), followed by cleft palate (4/5%). Submucous cleft palate was observed to be less frequently accompanied by conduction deafness (9/56,2%) as compared to complete cleft palate, despite a common feature of bone and muscle support discontinuity. Cleft lip was least frequently accompanied by conduction deafness, but it was still present to a relatively high percentage when compared to the cleft-free population.
