[Acute ear trauma caused by failure of mobile phone/cellular phone].

Abstract

The case of acute acoustic and burn ear trauma caused by mobile phone failure is presented. A woman aged 24 after dialling a phone number and putting a phone into the ear heard a sound of high frequency and intensity. At the same time she felt a pain and heat and there was also a smoke from the phone. With otoscopic examination a burn of external acoustic duct (I0) and sensitive hearing loss (examination made with tuning forks) were stated. The patient did not agree to stay in hospital and she was administered prednizone, trimetazidin and xantylol nicotinate. Audiometric examination, which was made on another day, showed hearing loss of 30 dB for frequency 4000Hz. After 2 days she started to hear a sound like a sea noise in her right ear. In the control examination, made 2 weeks after injury, no abnormalities in audiogram were stated but the patient steal heard ear noise. She continued to take trimetazidin and betahistin and after one month all symptoms of ear injury relieved. Patient is still under control of otolaryngologist. Unfortunately our efforts to explain the cause of such accident from phone producer were ineffective. Described case proves that mobile phone failure can be a cause of acute ear injury.

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

A 24-year-old woman experienced acute ear pain, heat, and smoke from a mobile phone placed to the ear after dialing; otoscopy showed a burn of the external acoustic duct and hearing loss was later measured as 30 dB at 4000 Hz. Two weeks later the audiogram was normal but tinnitus persisted; symptoms reportedly resolved after one month of treatment.

Outcomes measured

• Acute acoustic trauma
• Burn of external acoustic duct
• Hearing loss (30 dB at 4000 Hz on audiometry)
• Tinnitus/ear noise

Limitations

• Single case report
• No exposure characterization (e.g., RF parameters) provided
• Causal mechanism not established; manufacturer did not provide explanation
• No control/comparator

{
    "study_type": "case_report",
    "exposure": {
        "band": null,
        "source": "mobile phone",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": null
    },
    "population": "24-year-old woman",
    "sample_size": 1,
    "outcomes": [
        "Acute acoustic trauma",
        "Burn of external acoustic duct",
        "Hearing loss (30 dB at 4000 Hz on audiometry)",
        "Tinnitus/ear noise"
    ],
    "main_findings": "A 24-year-old woman experienced acute ear pain, heat, and smoke from a mobile phone placed to the ear after dialing; otoscopy showed a burn of the external acoustic duct and hearing loss was later measured as 30 dB at 4000 Hz. Two weeks later the audiogram was normal but tinnitus persisted; symptoms reportedly resolved after one month of treatment.",
    "effect_direction": "harm",
    "limitations": [
        "Single case report",
        "No exposure characterization (e.g., RF parameters) provided",
        "Causal mechanism not established; manufacturer did not provide explanation",
        "No control/comparator"
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "very_low",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "mobile phone",
        "cellular phone",
        "device failure",
        "ear burn",
        "acoustic trauma",
        "hearing loss",
        "tinnitus",
        "case report"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": []
}

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