Audiometric Parameters in Conductive Hearing Loss and Middle Ear Disease

Consecutive patients 12 years or older due for myringoplasty or stapes surgery at the ENT-department, University hospital of Tromsø, in an approximate time span of one year, have been studied with the following audiometric investigations at the preoperative admission, 2, 6 and 12 months postoperatively: Transient otoacoustic emissions, pure-tone audiometry for air- and bone-conduction, speech audiometry using spondaic recognition for air and bone-conduction. Results will be statistically analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, with the unoperated ear (paired organ) serving as controls. The goal is to look at alternative methods for analysing the patients' preoperative hearing in order to increase the precision of clinical decision-making. The secondary goal is to elucidate the effects of middle ear surgery on the inner ear.