Hearing impairment in pregnancy toxemia.
OBJECTIVE
Preeclampsia, characterized by widespread endothelial damage and dysfunction, systemic toxicity, coagulation defects, and an increased systemic inflammatory response, poses some risk factors for hearing loss.


METHODS
A case-control study.


METHODS
Two groups with 37 preeclamptic and 38 healthy pregnant women were matched by age. Other factors that could possibly influence hearing were ruled out. Transient otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) was carried out for both groups before delivery and was repeated two weeks after delivery in cases of failure.


RESULTS
We could not find any abnormality in the healthy pregnant women who underwent the TEOAE test, but five of the preeclamptic women failed the initial test before delivery. This condition was recovered two weeks later. Statistical analysis showed significant difference (TEOAE disturbances) between the two groups (P = 0.025).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that pregnancy toxemia might have effects on hearing abilities.
Bakhshaee
Mehdi
M
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Imam Reza Educational Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. mehbakhsh@yahoo.com <mehbakhsh@yahoo.com>
Hassanzadeh
Malihe
M
Nourizadeh
Navid
N
Karimi
Ebrahim
E
Moghiman
Toktam
T
Shakeri
Mohammadtaghi
M
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy