Sensorineural hearing loss was studied in 874 chronically infected ears and was found to occur more frequently in cases of cholesteatoma and in the presence of discharge. Sensorineural hearing loss is not dependent on the type of causative microorganism. Older patients exhibited sensorineural hearing loss more often than did younger patients, this disorder being more common in affected ears than in control ears (the contralateral ear in unilateral cases).