Hearing thresholds at high frequency in patients with cystic fibrosis: a systematic review

High-frequency audiometry may contribute to the early detection of hearing loss caused by ototoxic medications. Many ototoxic drugs are widely used in the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis. Early detection of hearing loss should allow known harmful drugs to be identified before the damage affects speech frequencies. The damage caused by ototoxicity is irreversible, resulting in important social and psychological consequences. In children, hearing loss, even when restricted to high frequencies, can affect the development of language.

To investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of hearing monitoring through high-frequency audiometry in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis.

Electronic databases PubMed, MedLine, Web of Science and LILACS were searched, from January to November 2015. The selected studies included those in which high-frequency audiometry was performed in patients with cystic fibrosis, undergoing treatment with ototoxic drugs and published in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The GRADE system was chosen for the evaluation of the methodological quality of the articles.

During the search process carried out from January 2015 to November 2015, 512 publications were identified, of which 250 were found in PubMed, 118 in MedLine, 142 in Web of Science and 2 in LILACS. Of these, nine articles were selected.

The incidence of hearing loss was identified at high frequencies in cystic fibrosis patients without hearing complaints. It is assumed that high-frequency audiometry can be an early diagnostic method to be recommended for hearing investigation of patients at risk of ototoxicity.