title: Hearing and vestibular disturbances in Behçet's syndrome.
abstract: In order to evaluate the prevalence of audiovestibular disturbances in Behçet's syndrome, we submitted 20 consecutive patients and 20 control subjects to detailed audiologic and vestibular examination in the last 3 years. A sensorineural hearing loss was found in 12 patients, 2 of whom revealed sudden deafness. Two other patients with neuro-Behçet's syndrome showed a vestibular function deficit, and 3 others exhibited altered caloric stimulation test results. Two of these last patients also revealed a simultaneous bilateral auditory deficit. HLA typing showed the presence of the B51 antigen in 10 of the 14 patients with ear involvement, while only 3 of the 6 patients without ear involvement were HLA-B51-positive. Results suggest that audiovestibular involvement is common in Behçet's syndrome: sudden deafness may be the first sign of ear disturbance; vestibular lesions may represent an early sign of neuro-Behçet's syndrome; and the HLA-B51 antigen is associated with ear involvement. Otoneurologic study can reveal hidden brain stem lesions in Behçet's patients during flare-ups of the disease, even without obvious signs of neurologic deficits.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatic Disease Unit, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gemignani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berrettini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bruschini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sellari-Franceschini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fusari
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Piragine
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pasero
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Olivieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D002151:Calorimetry; D004584:Electronystagmography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests
chemical_list: D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen