Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 24, 2026
A Method of Trigonometric Modelling of Seasonal Variation Demonstrated with Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Data
Published on: December 9, 2015
Subclinical cochlear dysfunction in newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
Roberta Di Mauro1, Stefano Di Girolamo1, Massimo Ralli2
1Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
Background:
Hearing impairment in multiple sclerosis has long been considered a process mainly related to the central auditory system. However, increasing evidence also suggests a peripheral involvement of the inner ear. The objective of this study was to investigate subclinical cochlear dysfunction and possible correlation with disease severity in untreated newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis patients using transient-evoked and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions.
Methods:
Forty patients with newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, clinically normal hearing and no brainstem lesions (study group) and forty matched controls (control group) were included in the study. All subjects had a routine audiological evaluation including history and clinical examination, pure tone audiometry, acoustic immittance test, auditory brainstem response and otoacoustic emissions recording. Self-administered questionnaires were used to evaluate self-perception of hearing disability.
Results:
Auditory brainstem response and pure tone audiometry thresholds resulted within normal range in all patients. The amplitudes of transient-evoked and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions responses were significantly reduced at 1000, 1500, 2000 and 3000 Hz in the study group compared to the control group.
Conclusions:
This study shows decreased otoacoustic emission amplitudes in untreated multiple sclerosis patients with clinically normal hearing and no brainstem demyelinating plaques, suggesting a subclinical cochlear impairment. This alteration may represent an early sign of peripheral hearing damage, suggesting a role for otoacoustic emissions in the early diagnosis of cochlear dysfunction in multiple sclerosis patients. However, given that otoacoustic emissions primarily reflects cochlear function, and that the wave I of the auditory brainstem responses was spared, the evidence supporting a peripheral involvement of acoustic pathways due to multiple sclerosis can only be hypothetically attributed to an early subclinical involvement of outer hair cells.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Diagnosing Acidosis and Alkalosis
First, the pH level is assessed to determine whether the blood pH is normal (7.35–7.45), low (acidosis), or high (alkalosis).
Next, the PCO2 and...
01:49Multiple Allele Traits
01:25Multiple Regression
Farmers can use multiple regression to determine the crop yield based on more than one factor, such as water availability, fertilizer, soil properties, etc. Here, the crop yield is the response or dependent variable as it depends on the other independent variables. The analysis requires the construction of a scatter plot...
01:11Deformation of Member under Multiple Loadings
In the case of a member with a variable cross-section, the strain is not constant but depends on the position. The deformation of an...
01:25Multiple Voltage Sources
In series, the positive terminal of one battery is connected to the negative terminal of another battery. Hence, the voltage of each battery is added to give the net voltage, which is increased because each battery boosts the electrons that enter it. The same current flows through each battery because they are connected in series.
Batteries are...
01:13Multiple Comparison Tests
It would be easy to compare two samples using a significance alpha level of 0.05. In other words, there is only one sample pair to be compared. However, it would be difficult to identify a significantly different sample if the number...