Differentiating Conductive and Sensorineuronal Hearing Loss
When a Weber test is carried out, sound localizes to the ear affected by the conductive loss. A Rinne test, in which air conduction is normally greater than bone conduction, is usually negative (abnormal – note unusual terminology here compared with other medical tests), and shows greater bone conduction than air conduction.
Table 1. A table comparing sensorineural hearing loss to conductive
| Criteria | Sensorineural hearing loss | Conductive hearing loss |
| Anatomical Site | Inner ear, cranial nerve VIII, or central processing centers | Middle ear (ossicular chain), tympanic membrane, or inner ear |
| Weber Test | Sound localizes to normal ear | Sound localizes to affected ear (ear with conductive loss) |
| Rinne Test | Positive Rinne; Air conduction > Bone conduction (both air and bone conduction are decreased equally, but the difference between them is unchanged). | Negative Rinne; Bone Conduction > Air Conduction (Bone/Air Gap) |
Read more about this topic: Conductive Hearing Loss
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