The Middle Ear Function in Patients with Cleft Palate

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to present the audiologic and tympanometric finds in patients with cleft palate in China. Methods: Tympanometric evaluations were performed on 242 patients with an unrepaired cleft palate at the West China College of Stomatology. Of whom 50 patients had pure tone audiometric test. Comparisons of audiological and tympanometric status between age groups were carried out by Pearson Chi-Square tests. The software SPSS version 11.0 (SPSS Inc., USA) was used. Results: The frequency of middle ear effusion was 62.9% in the age group 0.5~2 years old , 64.7% in the age group 3~6 years old, 59.6% in the age group 7~12. There was no significant difference before and after 7 years old (P>0.05). After the age of 12 years old , the frequency of middle ear effusion decrease to 23.5%. This study demonstrated that before the age of 12 years old, the middle ear function in these patients did not improve with age, however, after the age of 12 years old, the middle ear function obviously improved (P<0.05). In the age group 2~6 years old, 62.5% had mild to moderate hearing loss. In the age group 7~12 years old, 52.4% had hearing loss. After the age of 12 years old, 37.5% still had hearing loss, of whom 31.2% had mild hearing loss. Conclusion: There is a high incidence of abnormal tympanometry and a hearing loss in cleft palate patients in each age group..