title: Hearing loss in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Systemic lupus erythematosus has its unique complications which warrant careful examination and assessment during follow/up visits of patients. The present study was conducted to evaluate prevalence of hearing loss in patients with SLE.
  
  
  METHODS
  At present a case- control study has been performed on 45 patients with SLE in a clinic of a teaching university hospital, Qazvin city, Iran. The patients were examined and evaluated for auditory and hearing problems as well as parameters related to their disease severity and progression. The control group was selected from the same clinic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five patients (11.1%) complained from hearing loss, 4 patients s (8.9%) complained from otorrhea, 3 patients (6.7%) had tinnitus in research group, moreover twelve patients (26.7%) in case group and 4 patients (8.9%) in control group had sensorineural hearing loss. The difference was found to be statistically significant. No statistical significant relationship was found between severity, age of onset, and duration of the disease, and the lab tests of the patients with hearing loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study implies that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus may develop sensorineural hearing loss during their course of the disease. It is recommended that audiology examination and/or audiometry become a part of routine follow/up studies of the patients.
authors.affiliation: Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. yazdizohreh@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mahnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.forename: Amir Mohammad
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kazemifar
authors.forename: Zahra Zarin
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Bakhsh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000453:epidemiology; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index