Di Stadio Arianna, Messineo Daniela, Ralli Massimo, Roccamatisi Dalila, Musacchio Angela, Ricci Giampietro, Greco Antonio
Otolaryngology department, University of Perugia, Piazza Menghini 1, Perugia, Italy.
Radiology oncology and anatomopathological Department, University La Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Neurol Sci. 2020 Jul;41(7):1891-1898. doi: 10.1007/s10072-020-04295-8. Epub 2020 Feb 24.
The presence of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) can impact on normal brain function by altering normal signal transmission and determining different symptoms.
To evaluate the relationship between the presence of brain WMHs and the scores of speech perception test (SPT) in a sample of normal-hearing patients under 70 years of age.
Prospective study. One hundred eleven patients underwent audiological screening with pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry, speech perception testing (SPT), and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). T2 sequences were analyzed to identify the presence of WMH that, if identified, were scored using the Fazekas score. Statistical multiple regression analysis was performed to understand the relationship between PTA and SPT score; the Pearson's and Spearman's tests were used to evaluate the correlation between Fazekas scores and SPT. Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between gender.
The results of PTA were not predictive of the SPT score. A negative statistically significant correlation (Spearman's, p = 0.0001; Pearson's, p < 0.001) was identified between the Fazekas score and the results of SPT. No statistically significant differences were identified in the correlation of WMH and SPT between males and females.
Multiple WMHs in the brain can worsen word recognition in patients with normal auditory threshold; this may be related to the impact that these lesions have on the memory ability. Spread of lesions into the brain might reduce the brain capacity to remember words, despite the sound is correctly perceived by the ear.
白质高信号（WMHs）的存在可通过改变正常信号传递并引发不同症状来影响正常脑功能。
评估70岁以下听力正常患者样本中脑白质高信号的存在与言语感知测试（SPT）分数之间的关系。
前瞻性研究。111名患者接受了纯音听力测定（PTA）、鼓室图、言语感知测试（SPT）和脑磁共振成像（MRI）的听力筛查。分析T2序列以确定WMHs的存在，若有发现，则使用 Fazekas 评分进行评分。进行统计多元回归分析以了解PTA与SPT分数之间的关系；使用Pearson检验和Spearman检验评估Fazekas评分与SPT之间的相关性。使用卡方检验分析性别差异。
PTA结果不能预测SPT分数。在Fazekas评分与SPT结果之间发现了具有统计学意义的负相关（Spearman检验，p = 0.0001；Pearson检验，p < 0.001）。男性和女性在WMH与SPT的相关性方面未发现具有统计学意义的差异。
脑内多个WMHs可使听觉阈值正常的患者的单词识别能力恶化；这可能与这些病变对记忆能力的影响有关。尽管耳朵能正确感知声音，但病变扩散到脑内可能会降低大脑记忆单词的能力。
