Sensorineural hearing loss in pediatric patients with celiac disease

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) as an extraintestinal manifestation of celiac disease (CD) has been reported in several studies. The aim of this study was to determine presence of subclinical sensorineural hearing loss associated with CD in pediatric patients. Otoscopy, tympanometry and pure tone audiometry were performed in 44 patients with CD and 20 healthy age and sex-matched controls. Pure tone audiometry did not show significant sensorineural hearing loss over all frequencies in patients with CD compared with controls (P > 0.05). SNHL was detected in only three (6.8 %) patients with CD. In conclusion, subclinical sensorineural hearing loss was demonstrated in adult patients with CD; therefore, we recommend to perform audiometric examinations in pediatric patients for recognizing hearing loss early during the course of the disease.