DPOAE measurements in comparison to audiometric measurements in hemodialyzed patients

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the early detection of the damage of cochlear activity by using distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) (DP-gram) comparing to the results of the impedance audiometry.MethodsWe examined 53 patients including 43 hemodialyzed patients, and 10 controls. First it was applied a tympanometry, and then in normal results we applied impedance audiometry and DPOAE (DP-gram).ResultsWe found sensorineural hearing loss in 67% of audiometric results of the hemodialyzed patients and there was a decrease of the DPOAE amplitude in 77% of hemodialyzed patients. In the control group there was one patient (10%) with neurosensorial in high frequencies hearing loss in both measurements with audiometry and DPOAE.ConclusionsThere is a sensorineural hearing loss observed in most of the patients with chronic renal failure. DPOAE audiogram shows lower amplitudes than impedance audiometry and it can be used for the early detection of cochlear damage

Hearing evaluation in patients with chronic renal failure

Objective: To evaluate hearing threshold and the severity of hearing loss at different frequencies in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), and to analyze the role of duration of disease on hearing threshold in patients of CRF by measuring pure-tone audiometry (PTA) and distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE). Methods: There were analysed 61 subjects (122 ears) from which 12 were patients starting hemodialise (A), 24 subjects were patients undergoing hemodialise over a year (B), 15 subjects were patients undergoing conservative treatment (C) and 10 controls (D). We did hearing evaluation by testing them using tympanometry, PTA and DPOAEs. Other parameters (blood pressure, body weight, blood chemistries) were also evaluated. Results: It was found a severe high-frequency hearing loss among patients with CRF comparing to the control group. Duration on haemodialysis treatment does not seem to have a significant impact on the incidence of hearing loss, although the method of treatment may influence the impact of the disease on hearing. Hearing loss among patients with CRF seemed to deteriorate further a year after the first evaluation. Conclusions: DPOAE raised the percentages of detection of SNHL indicating that it is a better technique than the conventional PTA for evaluation of hearing acuity