title: Evaluation of hearing loss in pediatric celiac patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy caused by the ingestion of gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. In some reports, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) has been identified as an extraintestinal symptom of CD. We aimed to further investigate the possible association between CD and SNHL by examining a greater number of pediatric CD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was carried out from March to September 2014 and included 110 pediatric patients with biopsy-confirmed CD (220 ears) and 41 age- and sex-matched controls (82 ears); participants were evaluated by tympanometry and pure tone audiometry (frequency, 250-8000Hz frequency).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Audiometric bone conduction thresholds were significantly different between the CD patients and the controls (p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in pure tone averages for air conduction (p>0.05). When the results for CD patients were analyzed according to duration of disease (≤36 months and >36 months), a significant difference in bone conduction thresholds (p<0.05) was noted, with significant increments at the later stages of disease. However, this difference was not sufficient to define clinical hearing loss, as the pure tone average thresholds remained below 20dB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that subclinical hearing loss may be present in children with CD, which could presage more serious hearing impairments at older ages and later stages of the disease. Hearing screenings should be recommended for children with CD in order to prevent the potentially unfavorable effects of hearing loss on the emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and sensorimotor development of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology-Hepatology and Nutrition, Gaziantep, Turkey. Electronic address: ysahin977@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Şahin
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Gaziantep, Turkey. Electronic address: cdurucu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durucu
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Gaziantep, Turkey. Electronic address: deryaaydin01@mynet.com.
authors.forename: Derya Aydın
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Şahin
mesh_terms: D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests; D000293:Adolescent; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001844:Bone Conduction; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: Celiac; Hearing loss; Pure tone audiometry