In a conductive hearing loss scenario, what would the Rinne and Weber tests reveal?

In a scenario of conductive hearing loss, the Rinne and Weber tests are utilized to assess the nature of the hearing impairment. When interpreting these tests, it's important to understand what normal hearing responses look like compared to those with conductive hearing loss.

In the Rinne test, a tuning fork is placed on the mastoid bone to test bone conduction, and then next to the ear to test air conduction. In conductive hearing loss, the bone conduction is better than air conduction, resulting in a negative Rinne test. This phenomenon occurs because sound transmitted through the skull (bone conduction) bypasses the outer or middle ear, where the conductive impairment resides, thus being perceived more clearly than through the affected air conduction pathway.

The Weber test involves placing a tuning fork at the center of the forehead to determine if the sound lateralizes to one ear. In cases of conductive hearing loss, sound will lateralize to the affected ear. This is due to the fact that the affected ear has decreased air conduction and therefore hears the tuning fork louder due to the lowered perception of external noise.

Taken together, a negative Rinne test indicates that bone conduction is better than air conduction, and the Weber test reveals lateralization to the affected ear. As such, the correct interpretation of