Case Study
Year: 2020 | Month: December | Volume: 10 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 168-173
Audiological Challenges in Management of Unilateral Hearing Loss/Asymmetrical Hearing Loss
Siva Ganesan1, Sumantra Sivakumar2, Akash Eswaran3, Abinaya Ramar4, Abirami A5
1Lecturer, 2First year MASLP, 3Intern BASLP, 4,5Undergraduate students, Madras ENT Research Foundation - Institute of Speech and Hearing (MERF-ISH), Mandaveli, Chennai, Tamil Nadu - 600 028, India
Corresponding Author: Siva Ganesan
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Hearing impairment is one of the most frequent sensory deficits in the human population affecting more than 250 million people around the world. Among them nearly 13.3% are affected with asymmetrical or unilateral hearing loss.
Objective: To explain the audiological challenges in management of unilateral profound hearing loss in one ear and mild to moderate hearing loss in the opposite ear.
Design: case study
Methodology: The study includes a single case report of a unilateral hearing loss client age 25 has undergone cochlear implantation followed by sudden hearing loss in the better ear. Pre and postoperative audiological evaluations were carried out using standard protocol
Conclusion: This study discloses the importance of early cochlear implantation over other management options and the consideration of the traditional 60db rule for the purpose of hearing aid fitting.
Key words: Hearing impairment, asymmetrical hearing loss, cochlear implantation.