If a patient has a conductive hearing loss in the right ear, what would Weber testing reveal?

In the case of conductive hearing loss, sound is transmitted less efficiently through the ear canal and middle ear structures. During the Weber test, a tuning fork is placed on the midline of the forehead, and the sound is expected to lateralize towards the ear with the conductive hearing loss. This occurs because the impaired ear, which has diminished sensitivity, will perceive the sound as louder compared to the normal ear due to the reduced background noise in that ear.

In this example, since the patient has conductive hearing loss in the right ear, the sound from the tuning fork will lateralize to the right side. Therefore, the correct response indicates lateralization to the right, reflecting the principle that the sound is perceived more intensely in the affected ear. This response helps to differentiate between types of hearing loss and highlights the mechanism of sound conduction through the auditory pathway.