Isolated Traumatic Dislocation of the Malleus into the External Auditory Canal.

We report a rare case of isolated malleus dislocation into the external auditory canal with lateralized intact tympanic membrane following a head trauma. The patient was a 63-year-old woman who presented at the outpatient department of our institute with hearing loss of 10 years' duration after a bicycle accident. During physical examination of the patient, total dislocation of the malleus-like bony structure into the external auditory canal on the right side was observed. In the computed tomography scan, an isolated malleus dislocation with intact incus-stapes articulation was identified. The patient was successfully treated with endoscopic exploratory tympanotomy and partial ossicular replacement prosthesis. The isolated malleus dislocation can rarely occur after trauma. A careful diagnostic step through history, physical examination, and temporal bone computed tomography scan are needed to confirm this rare condition.

Parental knowledge and attitudes to childhood hearing loss and hearing services in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Successful audiology service delivery depends on support from the community, and agreement to utilize hearing healthcare programs. Assessment of parents' awareness regarding hearing loss (HL) and audiology services is necessary for the development of suitable hearing programs for children. Previous studies reported that early detection and intervention for hearing problems are typically strongly supported by parents. The current study sought to evaluate parents' knowledge and attitudes regarding childhood HL and hearing services. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted at five centers in Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. A self-report questionnaire was administered to collect demographic data in addition to 31 questions regarding the knowledge and attitudes of parents toward HL. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21 was used for data analysis. A p-value cut-off point of 0.05 at 95% CI was used to determine statistical significance. The analyses examined the association between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge and attitudes toward HL using chi-square tests. RESULTS: Overall, participants included in this study were 243 participants. Of these, 105 (43.2%) were fathers, and 138 (56.8%) were mothers. Ages ranged from 21 to 60+ years. Assessment of the prevalence of various aspects of knowledge and attitudes among parents toward childhood HL revealed that 103 participants (42.4%) possessed good knowledge, while 140 participants (57.6%) possessed poor knowledge. In contrast, the attitude analysis revealed that 224 participants (92.2%) expressed positive attitudes, while only 19 participants (07.8%) showed a negative attitude regarding audiology services. We found a significant association between age group and knowledge (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Most parents in our sample possessed poor knowledge regarding childhood HL. However, most parents expressed positive attitudes regarding audiology services. The current findings suggest a need to increase awareness among parents regarding childhood HL.