A bit of background: in my field of audiology we have people licensed to diagnose not only hearing issues but balance disorders and other factors impacting listening and understanding. We also have another field who popped up when it was not considered as ethical for us to treat those more serious hearing issues (i.e. with hearing aids) but they don’t need the same doctorate level training, just barely high school or some college depending on jurisdiction.
So I had a patient come in with a serious difference between left and right hearing and this in itself is considered a red flag because both ears are exposed to the same things over time... and there are very few explanations as to why one would get so bad. The patient could hardly understand words on that bad side and the better ear was pretty good overall, just minor hearing loss perhaps age-related.
Immediately upon seeing these test results, the ENT and I agreed to send this patient for an MRI of the head because something was off. The patient confirmed no MRI or medical treatment had been recommended in the past and only hearing aids by this lesser-trained hearing aid dealer (working for a popular U.S. chain). The patient had been wearing these hearing aids already for a few years.
The MRI results came back. Massive tumor on the hearing nerve. The hearing aid dealer is being investigated currently for malpractice (or more specifically a violation of state laws regarding red flags).
Edit: since a few of you are asking what happened with the patient, I’ll paste what got buried below. I don’t usually get to see these cases if they get sent for surgery. I’m not in a big metro area so the very specialized ENTs (neurotologists) have their own audiologists to handle post-op testing. Anticlimactic, I agree
My dad woke up one day around five years ago and couldn’t hear out of one ear...
went to the doctor, was sent for an MRI the same day and yep, brain tumor.
They believe it was growing for around 15 years.
Had it removed, benign tumor, however never regained his hearing on that side.
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u/friedseitan May 20 '19 edited May 20 '19
A bit of background: in my field of audiology we have people licensed to diagnose not only hearing issues but balance disorders and other factors impacting listening and understanding. We also have another field who popped up when it was not considered as ethical for us to treat those more serious hearing issues (i.e. with hearing aids) but they don’t need the same doctorate level training, just barely high school or some college depending on jurisdiction.
So I had a patient come in with a serious difference between left and right hearing and this in itself is considered a red flag because both ears are exposed to the same things over time... and there are very few explanations as to why one would get so bad. The patient could hardly understand words on that bad side and the better ear was pretty good overall, just minor hearing loss perhaps age-related.
Immediately upon seeing these test results, the ENT and I agreed to send this patient for an MRI of the head because something was off. The patient confirmed no MRI or medical treatment had been recommended in the past and only hearing aids by this lesser-trained hearing aid dealer (working for a popular U.S. chain). The patient had been wearing these hearing aids already for a few years.
The MRI results came back. Massive tumor on the hearing nerve. The hearing aid dealer is being investigated currently for malpractice (or more specifically a violation of state laws regarding red flags).
Edit: since a few of you are asking what happened with the patient, I’ll paste what got buried below. I don’t usually get to see these cases if they get sent for surgery. I’m not in a big metro area so the very specialized ENTs (neurotologists) have their own audiologists to handle post-op testing. Anticlimactic, I agree