Degeneration Patterns in Human Ears Exposed to Noise

Abstract

Various forms of sensorineural degeneration patterns related to noise exposure are illustrated in six pairs of temporal bones selected from a group of 33 male patients with histories of noise exposure. For the entire group the commonest form of lesion, associated with a 4-kHz dip in the audiogram, was a relatively diffuse degeneration in the second quadrant of the basal turn, in the 9–13 mm area. An advanced form of this lesion had a wide gap of more or less complete sensorineural degeneration affecting the entire second quadrant and displaying various degrees of extension toward the apex and base. The pattern associated with an “abrupt high-tone loss,” with more or less complete hair cell and nerve degeneration in both the second and first quadrants and extending to the basal end of the cochlea, was rare. In one case this pattern appeared to have evolved from the first type of lesion as the remaining nerve fibers in the first quadrant had degenerated. The protective effect of the acoustic shadow of the head for the right ear, in shooting from the right shoulder, is demonstrated for the higher frequencies. Two almost identical cases of sharply-circumscribed single areas of degeneration in the first quadrant and one case with two such areas represent the third type of lesion. In one of these cases there was a history of firearm usage. It is postulated that this type of lesion is caused by impulse noise. In most of the material the degeneration pattern differed markedly from the diffuse degeneration seen with presbycusis. Degeneration patterns with knife-sharp transitions between completely degenerated and apparently undamaged areas appear to be characteristic of noise-induced injuries.