Abstract

Objective: To assess balance function in patients with radiologically confirmed otosclerosis. Methods: Sixteen patients (14 females and 2 males), who attended the Neuro-Otology clinic/ ENT clinics at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital, participated in this study. After general medical, audiological and Neuro-Otological examination, patients underwent the caloric and rotational testing.

Results: Thirteen of the 16 patients had radiologically confirmed otosclerosis (12 females and 1 male). A total of 3 patients (2 females and 1 male) did not have CT confirmation of otosclerosis, and therefore, were excluded from the study. The remaining 13 patients' data were analyzed. Nine patients had a mixed hearing impairment at least on one side, while eight patients had a bilateral mixed hearing loss and one patient had a sensorineural hearing loss on one side. Four patients had a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Only 1 patient had a canal paresis (CP) at 35 %. None of the patients had any significant directional preponderance (DP). The patient with significant CP (35%) did not show any rotational asymmetry on impulsive rotation. Eleven patients had a rotational chair test. Only one patient had a significant asymmetry to the right at 25.30% (normal range is <20%). Overall, 18% (n = 2) of the radiologically confirmed otosclerosis patients showed an abnormal balance test, including both caloric and rotational tests. More than 80% (n = 9) of the patients with radiological otosclerosis showed balance symptoms.

Conclusions: the current study indicates a high prevalence of balance symptoms (n = 9 or 82%) in patients with radiological otosclerosis, although only a small proportion (n = 2 or 18%) showed an abnormal vestibular function on caloric and impulse rotation testing. However, due to a small number of samples, further validation of this result is warranted.