Which test is expected to lateralize to the left in a patient with left ear hearing loss due to cerumen accumulation?

In the context of ear examinations and hearing loss, the Weber test is a tuning fork test used to determine the lateralization of sound perception between the two ears. When a patient has conductive hearing loss in one ear, such as in the case of cerumen accumulation affecting the left ear, sound will be perceived as louder in the affected ear during the Weber test. This is due to the fact that conductive hearing loss prevents the sound from being transmitted normally, leading to a relative increase in perception of sound in the affected ear.

Therefore, in a patient with left ear hearing loss due to cerumen buildup, the Weber test would lateralize to the left ear, indicating that the sound is perceived more intensely on that side despite the hearing loss. This is a key characteristic of how the Weber test functions in differentiating the types of hearing loss, making it the appropriate choice in this scenario.

Other tests, such as the Rinne test, primarily assess bone conduction versus air conduction and can help determine the type of hearing loss, but they do not lateralize sound in the same way the Weber test does. An audiogram measures hearing sensitivity across different frequencies but does not specifically address lateralization in the context provided. A conductive hearing test evaluates the ability to perceive