title: Hearing loss: an unknown complication of pre-eclampsia?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine whether pre-eclampsia is a risk factor for cochlear damage and sensorineural hearing impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective case-control study consisted of 33 patients with pre-eclampsia and 32 normotensive pregnant patients as controls. All of the subjects underwent otoscopic examinations - pure tone audiometry (0.25-16 kHz) and transient evoked otoacoustic emission (1-4 kHz) tests - during their third trimester of pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean ages of the patients with pre-eclampsia and the control subjects were 29.6 ± 5.7 and 28.6 ± 5.3 years, respectively. The baseline demographic characteristics, including age, gravidity, parity number, and gestational week, were similar between the two patient groups. Hearing thresholds in the right ear at 1, 4, 8, and 10 kHz and in the left ear at 8 and 10 kHz were significantly higher in the patients with pre-eclampsia compared to the control subjects. The degree of systolic blood pressure measured at the time of diagnosis had a deteriorating effect on hearing at 8, 10, and 12 kHz in the right ear and at 10 kHz in the left ear.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-eclampsia is a potential risk factor for cochlear damage and sensorineural hearing loss. Further studies that include routine audiological examinations are needed in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Derince Education and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terzi
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kale
authors.forename: Pinar Solmaz
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hasdemir
authors.forename: Adin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selcuk
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.forename: Selahattin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Genc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003051:Cochlea / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013599:Systole; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Susac's syndrome; hearing loss; pre-eclampsia; pregnancy; vascular damage