Behçet disease as a cause of hearing loss: A prospective, placebo-controlled study of 29 patients

We conducted a prospective, placebo-controlled study to determine the incidence and severity of inner ear involvement and hearing loss in patients with Behçet disease. Our study population was made up of 29 patients with Behçet disease and 28 healthy controls. Audiometric pure-tone thresholds and transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) levels were determined in both groups. The main outcome measures were pure-tone audiometry (PTA) levels and TEOAE levels in the two groups. PTA detected a sensorineural hearing loss in 10 of the 29 patients (34.5%). The difference in audiometric findings between the two groups was statistically significant at 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz (p ≤ 0.0498). A comparison of TEOAE levels revealed that the difference in sound-to-noise ratio between the two groups was not significant at 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 kHz, but it was significant in 4 kHz (p = 0.02), and the difference in reproducibility between the two groups was significant at 2 and 4 kHz (p ≤ 0.03). We conclude that all patients with Behçet disease should be screened for hearing impairment and subsequently treated if an impairment is discovered.