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[Prospective study of the cardiovascular risk of patients with sudden deafness]
S Preyer1, K Schmidt, L Wallroth
1Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Tübingen.
Insights
Sudden hearing loss is not linked to cardiovascular risk factors. However, patients with coronary heart disease showed significantly more risk factors compared to those with sudden hearing loss or healthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Cardiology
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Sudden hearing loss (SHL) is an otologic emergency with unclear etiology.
- Cardiovascular disease shares several risk factors with other conditions, prompting investigation into potential links with SHL.
Purpose:
- To investigate the association between cardiovascular risk factors and sudden hearing loss.
- To compare cardiovascular risk profiles in patients with SHL, otologically healthy individuals, and patients with established coronary heart disease (CHD).
Summary:
- A prospective case-control study compared 135 SHL patients, 135 healthy controls, and 111 CHD patients, matched for age, sex, and onset.
- Investigated risk factors included serum lipids, blood pressure, body weight, diabetes, family history of CHD, and smoking.
- No significant differences in cardiovascular risk factors were found between SHL patients and healthy controls.
- A pronounced difference in risk factors was observed between these groups and CHD patients.
- No correlation was found between SHL type (low, high, pantonal) and coronary risk factors.
- Hearing recovery in SHL patients did not correlate with coronary risk factors.
Impact:
- Findings suggest that common cardiovascular risk factors are not primary drivers of sudden hearing loss.
- This research helps differentiate the pathophysiology of SHL from that of coronary heart disease.
- Provides evidence against a direct link, aiding in the differential diagnosis and management of SHL.
Abstract:
In this prospective case control study 135 patients with sudden hearing loss were compared with regard to their cardiovascular risk with 135 otologically healthy patients and 111 patients with coronary heart disease. The groups were matched according to age, sex and date of onset of disease. The risk factors investigated were: serum cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, blood pressure, body weight, diabetes mellitus, positive family history of coronary heart disease and smoking habits. There was no significant difference between the patients with sudden hearing loss and otologically healthy patients. However, the difference between these two groups of patients and the patients with coronary heart disease was very pronounced. The groups of patients with a low frequency, high frequency or pantonal hearing loss did not differ with respect to the distribution of coronary risk factors. Furthermore, no statistical correlation was found between the degree of recovery of hearing function after sudden hearing loss and coronary risk factors.