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Predictive Validity of Hypothesized Risk Factors for Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome
Ryan A Bartholomew1,2, Brigette L Wang1, Obinna I Nwosu1,2
1Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Objective:
To assess the predictive validity of comorbid conditions hypothesized to be risk factors of superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS).
Study Design:
Retrospective case-control study.
Setting:
A metropolitan health care system.
Patients:
Adult patients with superior canal dehiscence syndrome (n=152) and matched controls (n=438) between the years 2016 and 2021.
Intervention:
Diagnostic.
Main Outcome Measures:
Differences in rates of comorbid diagnoses evaluated by multivariate logistic regression: disorders of bone density (osteoporosis, osteopenia, or osteomalacia), vitamin D deficiency, hypocalcemia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), idiopathic intracranial hypertension, history of head trauma, and BMI >25.
Results:
The study patients had a mean age of 57.8 years, with 62.5% females. Two diagnoses achieved significance (P<0.05) in the multivariate logistic regression: OSA was a positive predictor of SCDS with an OR of 2.29 (95% CI: 1.15-4.54), whereas having a BMI over 25 was a negative predictor with an OR of 0.51 (95% CI: 0.29-0.89). The remaining diagnoses either did not achieve a statistically significant association or were excluded from multivariate analysis due to rarity in the cohort.
Conclusions:
OSA was a significant positive predictor of SCDS while elevated BMI acted as a negative predictor, suggesting that comorbid OSA may confound previously reported links between elevated BMI and SCDS.
