Otolaryngology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss associated with otitis media with effusion is usually found in cleft lip and palate children. Severity of hearing loss is related to severity of cleft lip and palate. Objectives: Find out if ears on the cleft side have a higher severity of hearing loss if compared with non cleft side ears. Method: Study group included 101 children with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate; 27 right and 74 left side, 33 girls and 68 boys, mean age of 6 years for both groups. Tonal audiometry performed and median hearing levels estimated at 500, 1000, 2000, 4000 Hz for age subgroups 1-3y, 4-7, 8-12y, and the results were statistically analyzed and compared. Results: The unilateral cleft palate is more often in males (n=68 or 67%), than females (n=33 or 33%). Left ears if compared to the right ears showed highest average of hearing loss level at age 1-3y, slower improvement with aging and lowest rate of ears with normalizing hearing level up to the age of 7y. Left ears showed higher severity of median hearing loss at 500 Hz with lower improvement with aging than right ears. Left ears highly improve hearing loss at middle register and right ears at lower frequencies. Conclusion: Hearing loss and its improvement in unilateral cleft palate showed ear side dependence, frequency selectivity and age dependence.

Biography

Jadranka Handzic graduated in 1984 from Medical School University of Zagreb and completed Master degree in1987 and PhD in 1989. In 2000-2001 she spent academic year on Fulbright Scholarship at Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Centre and Dental School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and Children?s Hospital Pittsburgh U.S.A Department for Paediatric Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, USA as Adjunct Associate Professor of Oral Medicine and Pathology and in 2001-2002 as Visiting Assistant Professor at Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Centre, Dental School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A. From 2001-2002 she pursued Lester Hamburg- Research Fellowship in Department for Paediatric Otolaryngology Children?s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Medical School University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A. Since 2002, she was working as an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, University Clinical Hospital Centre and Medical School ?Zagreb? and from 2008, as Professor of Otolaryngology and Audiology. She is author and co-author of 16 articles in current contents, lecturer of 30 presentations on international conferences, reviewer in Journal and Annals of Maxillofacial Surgery, Director of 7 post-graduate studies of Otolaryngology and Audiology, author and co-author of 4 books, author of 3 international projects.