[Function of outer hair cells in patients with pseudoexfoliation].
OBJECTIVE
In this study, we aimed to assess whether outer hair cell function in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PES) was affected or not.


METHODS
Thirty-two patients (21 males, 11 females; mean age 69.8+/-9.3 years; range 49 to 86 years) with the diagnosis of PES and 23 healthy subjects (12 males, 11 females; mean age 65.3+/-9.1 year; range 51 to 79 years) as control group were included in the study. All of the subjects were evaluated with pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, and transient otoacoustic emission tests.


RESULTS
Sensorineural hearing loss was present in 28 patients with PES and in 13 healthy subjects (p<0.05). Transient otoacoustic emissions were present in 42 ears of patients with PES and in 32 ears of healthy subjects and there was no statistically significant difference between these two groups (p>0.05). Signal to noise ratios for PES and control groups were 5.1+/-4.4 dB and 5.2+/-4.2 dB, respectively (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirmed the presence of sensorineural hearing loss in PES patients. However, we failed to show a difference in outer hair cell functions of this group. Further postmortem histopathologic studies are needed to delineate the causes of sensorineural hearing loss in patients with PES.
Erbek
Seyra
S
Department of Otolaryngology, Medicine Faculty of Başkent University Ankara, Turkey. seyraerbek@yahoo.com
Erbek
Selim S
SS
Karalezli
Aylin
A
Borazan
Mehmet
M
Ozlüoğlu
Levent N
LN
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017889:Exfoliation Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D018072:Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer / Q000502:physiology*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values