Investigation of Outer Hair Cell Function of the Cochlea in Psoriasis Patients

Abstract

Purpose: Psoriasis has been accepted as a T-cell mediated systemic disease and systemic inflammation may also cause immunemediated hearing loss. We aimed to evaluate cochlear function with otoacoustic emission (OAE) measurement in psoriasis patients and to evaluate whether there is a relationship between duration and severity of the disease and OAEs. Materials and Methods: Forty-four patients diagnosed with psoriasis were included in the study. The control group consisted of 35 healthy volunteers. The patients' age, gender, onset age, family history, disease duration, and additional diseases were questioned, and psoriasis area severity index (PASI) was calculated. Audiological and otological evaluations were performed. Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE) were measured at 500, 1000, 2,000, 4,000, 6000, 8000 and 10000 Hz frequencies. Results: There was no significant difference in DPOAE values at 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 10000 Hz between healthy volunteers and psoriasis patients. There was a significant difference between PASI score and SNR value at 1000 Hz (p=0.031), disease duration, and DPAOE values at 4000 and 6000 Hz (p=0.033, p=0.038 respectively) Conclusion: Considering that psoriasis is a long-term, chronic systemic disease, patients should be follow-up closely even if they do not have hearing complaints in the early period, and as the duration and severity of the disease increases, the hearing of the patients may be affected.

Keywords

• cochlea
• otoacoustic emission
• outer hair cell
• psoriasis