[Hearing defects after purulent meningitis (author's transl)].

80 children in the age of 4 to 20 years who got over a purulent meningitis in infancy or childhood were examined by means of several audiological methods. Two children (2,5 percent) were found to be deaf. In 4 cases (5 percent) deafness was detected only unilateral not preferring the right or left ear. Hearing impairment after the eights cranial nerve damage was found in four children. 4 children suffered from severe to profound hearing defects on one side or bilateral. No correlation could be found between incidence and severity of the hearing defects to the total dose of the antibiotics that were penicillin, ampicillin and gentamycin. Before the background of the literature reported on this subject and the presented results hearing impairment after purulent meningitis seems to be more likely a sequela of inflammation than a toxic side-effect of the antibiotics.