Sensorineural hearing loss in acromegalic patients under treatment

Acromegaly is a rare endocrine disease. Few studies have evaluated its association with hearing loss (HL) and the results are conflicting. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and features of HL in a group of patients being treated for acromegaly. To analyze peripheral and central auditory transmission. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A group of 34 patients with acromegaly were submitted to metabolic evaluation, tonal audiometry and brainstem auditory evoked potentials. HL was considered when pure tone average was > 25 DBHL for low frequencies (250, 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz) or high frequencies (3000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 Hz). The patients were divided in group A (with HL) and B (without HL). Results: Twelve patients (35.3%) had sensorineural HL (Group A), being 8 bilateral and 4 unilateral. No one had mixed or conductive HL. The prevalence of diabetes/impaired glucose tolerance was similar between the groups. The frequencies 3000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 Hz were the most affected and with a similar pattern in both ears. Conclusion: sensorineural HL was found in 38.9% of cases. Neither clinical nor metabolic differences were noted between the groups, as well as in regards to peripheral and central auditory transmission.