Serotonin reuptake inhibitors in auditory processing disorders in elderly patients: preliminary results.
OBJECTIVE
One mechanism associated with degeneration in the elderly is the decrease of neurotransmitters. In the central auditory pathway serotonin, can be found from cochlear nucleus to the auditory cortex, and it constitutes one of the most important neuromodulatory circuits in hearing processing. The present study analyzed the action of citalopram, a selective inhibitor of serotonin reuptake, in aged patients with normal to moderate sensorineural hearing loss (HL) and low performance on auditory processing.


METHODS
Prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Thirty-eight selected patients were randomly divided into two groups. Nineteen patients made up group A and received placebo for 60 days. Nineteen patients of Group B received 20 mg per day of citalopram for 60 days. Hearing evaluation was performed initially and after 60 days and included pure-tone audiometry, speech discrimination test (SDT), emittanciometry (acoustic impedance audiometry), identification of synthetic sentences with an ipsilateral competitive message (SSI/ICM), tests of pitch-pattern sequences (PPS), and the staggered spondaic words test (SSW).


RESULTS
Comparisons of tests of auditory processing pre- and posttreatment in each group showed a statistical improvement in performance on all tests in group B after 2 months of therapy. Comparisons pre- and posttreatment between groups showed that patients who received citalopram presented statistically significantly better results in the SSI/ICM test (P < .0001) after treatment. The same comparison in results for the PPS test and the SSW test revealed a tendency (P = .09 and 0.058, respectively) toward better performance in the group receiving citalopram.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary results suggest that the use of citalopram can have a positive impact on auditory processes in elderly patients with low performance in auditory process.
Department of Otolaryngology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil. olacruz@uol.com.br
Oswaldo Laércio M
OL
Cruz
Cristiane A
CA
Kasse
Maura
M
Sanchez
Flavio
F
Barbosa
Flavia A
FA
Barros
D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000187:drug effects; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015283:Citalopram; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors