A patient with severe unilateral sensorineural hearing loss undergoes tuning fork testing. When the 512 Hz tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process of the affected ear, the patient reports hearing the sound longer on the mastoid than in front of the ear. When the fork is placed on the mastoid of the normal ear, air conduction is better than bone conduction. What is this phenomenon called?

• A Weber's test lateralization
• B Schwabach's test shortening
• C True negative Rinne's test
• D False negative Rinne's test ✓

Explanation

In severe unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, the affected ear cannot hear air conduction but perceives bone conduction via crossover to the contralateral cochlea. This makes bone conduction seem louder than air conduction on the deaf side, yielding a false negative Rinne's test. A true negative Rinne's occurs in conductive hearing loss where the cochlea is intact.

Reference: Dhingra and Dhingra's Diseases of Ear, Nose and Throat, 7th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.