gms | German Medical Science

88th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

24.05. - 27.05.2017, Erfurt

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Subclinical cochlear dysfunction in patients with de-novo multiple sclerosis

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  • corresponding author Roberta Di Mauro - University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rom, Italy
  • Maria Albanese - University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rom, Italy
  • Stefano Di Girolamo - University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rom, Italy
  • Diego Centonze - University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rom, Italy

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. 88. Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie. Erfurt, 24.-27.05.2017. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2017. Doc17hno251

doi: 10.3205/17hno251, urn:nbn:de:0183-17hno2510

Published: April 13, 2017

© 2017 Di Mauro et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) has numerous neurologic signs and symptoms, including hearing impairment. The aim of our study was to investigate: the type and severity of cochlear dysfunction in patients with MS compared to healthy subjects; the potential prognostic value of cochlear dysfunction for disease severity and progression; the relationship between cochlear impairment and disease characteristics-clinical-radiological parameters.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed using Pure-Tone Audiometry (PTA), Otoacustic Emissions (OAEs) and Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABRs). MOC function was evaluated by the olivocochlear suppression test, using OAEs. We enrolled 40 untreated de-novo MS patients and 40 healthy controls. In order to evaluate exclusively the peripheral disorders, patients with a brainstem involvement or abnormal ABR responses were not included.

Results: TEOAE responses in all the frequencies studied were lower in MS patients compared to controls. There were significant differences at the frequencies of 1-1,5 and 2 kHz, as also confirmed by the olivocochlear suppression test. OC suppression reveals the same significant value. Finally, to exclude a central hearing disorder, ANOVA One-Way test does not point out a significant difference between right ear and left ear.

Conclusions: Our work is the first that investigate hearing impairment in de-novo SM patients in a large group of patients. Our results suggest that the MS pathophysiology couldn’t be considered as a central disease, but we can suppose that there is a systemic subclinical involvement of different structure like the cochlear pathway.

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