Cystic fibrosis and hearing loss.

The mucosal epithelium of the middle ear and Eustachian tube is in 
direct continuity with the upper respiratory tract. Since the otolaryngological aspects 
of cystic fibrosis (CF) are dominated by involvement of the paranasal 
sinuses, it might be assumed that children with CF would be 
expected to have a higher than usual incidence of middle ear 
disease. Eighty patients who were afflicted with CF had audiological evaluations, 
which consisted of hearing threshold levels (250 to 8,000 Hz) and 
speech and impedance audiometry. We found no greater incidence of a 
conductive or sensorineural hearing loss in patients with CF when compared 
with a normal age-adjusted population. 