Does labyrinthectomy have an impact on hearing in the contralateral ear during long-term follow-up?

To quantify contralateral hearing outcomes after labyrinthectomy for unilateral Ménière's disease (MD). Retrospective case series. Tertiary neurotology referral center. Labyrinth removal for the management of MD or translabyrinthine (TLAB) acoustic neuroma resection between 2008 and 2012. Long-term hearing changes via pure tone averages (PTA). Upon comparison of low-frequency PTA (250, 500, 1000 Hz), MD patients experienced a greater degree of hearing loss during the follow-up period when compared to the TLAB lab group (7.54 ± 2.11 dB vs 2.39 ± 1.10 dB, p = 0.035). This difference as attributable to 12 (28.6 %) MD patients experiencing a ≥30 dB increase in low-frequency PTA, whereas none (0.0 %) of the TLAB surpassed this threshold. At 10 years post-labyrinthectomy there is a heightened risk for MD patients to develop low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. Clinicians should monitor for audiometric changes through regular testing in the decade following labyrinth removal. •Contralateral hearing is an important outcome measure after labyrinthectomy.•Ménière's disease (MD) patients may experience increases of ≥30dB in contralateral hearing.•Translabyrinthine (TLAB) acoustic neuroma patients have less pronounced low-frequency loss 10 years after labyrinthectomy.•Post-labyrinthectomy MD patients require regular audiometric surveillance in the post-operative period.