Hearing loss in cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVES

To verify the prevalence of hearing loss in cystic fibrosis patients and whether the use of aminoglycosides affects hearing and also to analyze whether the distortion product otoacoustic emissions test is suitable to assess sensorineural hearing loss in cystic fibrosis.

METHODS

In this descriptive study 120 cystic fibrosis patients aged five months to 18 years were assessed through questionnaires, audiometric tests and analysis of the distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Assessment of previous use of aminoglycosides was performed by collecting data in medical charts.

RESULTS

Audiometric tests show a 4-11% prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss. 89.2% of the patients succeeded in the otoacoustic emissions test, and 42% had used intravenous and/or inhaled aminoglycosides. There was no statistically significant (p=0.48) relation between the use of aminoglycosides and hearing loss.

CONCLUSION

Pure tone audiometry and analysis of the distortion product otoacoustic emissions revealed that there was a high prevalence of hearing loss, which makes cystic fibrosis patients a high-risk group which needs periodic assessment by an otorhinolaryngologist. Comparison of the groups with and without aminoglycosides use showed that there was no statistically significant difference among them in analyses, which suggests that the use of aminoglycosides is not the only causal factor for hearing loss in cystic fibrosis.