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Hearing and Balance Disorders Flashcards

7 cards from real ENT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Hearing and Balance Disorders flashcards as text

  1. How is sudden sensorineural hearing loss commonly defined?

    Answer: A loss of at least 30 dB over 3 consecutive frequencies within 72 hours

    The AAO-HNS defines sudden sensorineural hearing loss as at least 30 dB over 3 consecutive frequencies, developing within 72 hours.

  2. A Carhart notch on the audiogram of a patient with otosclerosis is a drop in bone conduction thresholds at which frequency?

    Answer: 2000 Hz

    Stapes fixation produces an artificial dip in bone conduction centered at 2 kHz, which often improves after stapedectomy.

  3. A patient's hearing has only partly recovered 3 weeks after sudden sensorineural hearing loss. What does the AAO-HNS guideline recommend?

    Answer: Offer salvage intratympanic steroid therapy

    The guideline supports offering intratympanic steroids as salvage therapy when recovery is incomplete 2 to 6 weeks after onset.

  4. What is the preferred test to rule out vestibular schwannoma in a patient with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss?

    Answer: Gadolinium-enhanced MRI of the internal auditory canals

    Contrast-enhanced MRI is the gold standard for finding retrocochlear lesions, including small intracanalicular tumors.

  5. Which audiometric pattern is typical of noise-induced hearing loss?

    Answer: A sensorineural notch near 4 kHz that recovers at 8 kHz

    Noise injures the cochlear region most sensitive to 3 to 6 kHz, which produces a notch that partly recovers at 8 kHz.

  6. Which mitochondrial mutation makes patients highly susceptible to aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss?

    Answer: MT-RNR1 m.1555A>G

    The m.1555A>G variant in the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene makes ribosomes bind aminoglycosides more easily, which can cause deafness even after one dose.

  7. A patient has a conductive hearing loss in the right ear. What are the expected tuning fork results?

    Answer: Weber lateralizes right; Rinne negative on the right

    In conductive loss, Weber lateralizes to the affected ear and bone conduction is louder than air conduction (negative Rinne) on that side.

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Sources & references

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  1. pearsonvue.com — Test delivery · verified Oct 2026
  2. abohns.org — Renewal, eligibility, passing score, exam dates · verified Oct 2026
Hearing and Balance Disorders Flashcards — ENT Study Cards with Answers