title: Audiologic profile of OSAS and simple snoring patients: the effect of chronic nocturnal intermittent hypoxia on auditory function.
abstract: The objective of this work was to study the effect of nocturnal intermittent hypoxia on auditory function of simple snoring patients and subjects affected by OSAS; we compared the audiologic profile with the severity of OSAS to detect early signs of cochlear damage. One hundred-sixty patients underwent overnight polysomnography, micro-otoscopy, multi-frequency audiometry, acufenometry, TEOAE recording and d-ROMs test. All subjects were divided in four groups, based on presence/absence of AHI (simple snoring without OSAS, mild OSAS, moderate OSAS, severe OSAS). Sixty (37.5 %) patients were not affected by OSAS, 58 (36.25 %) presented a mild OSAS, 18 (11.25 %) a moderate OSAS and 24 (15 %) a severe OSAS; the 57.14 % of moderate to severe OSAS suffered from tinnitus with respect to the 31.03 % of mild OSAS (P = 0.024). A higher percentage (41.66 %) of hearing loss was found among individuals with moderate to severe degree of OSAS (P < 0.0001). All groups were characterized by a mean hearing threshold <25 dB HL for 0.25-3 kHz frequencies and a progressive decrease in hearing sensitivity, particularly for 6-16 kHz frequencies (P < 0.05). The analysis of otoacoustic emissions SNR mean values evidenced a significant difference between simple snoring and severe OSAS individuals for 3 and 4 kHz frequencies (P < 0.05). d-ROM levels resulted higher in patients with severe OSAS with respect to simple snoring subjects (P = 0.004). Our data underline the key role of chronic nocturnal intermittent hypoxia in the development of an early cochlear damage and a more marked high-frequency hearing loss in case of severe OSAS (P < 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Sperimentale e Neuroscienze Cliniche, (BioNeC), Sezione di Otorinolaringoiatria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martines
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche e Forensi (Di.Bi.Me.F.), Sezione di Audiologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ballacchino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Sperimentale e Neuroscienze Cliniche, (BioNeC), Sezione di Otorinolaringoiatria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sireci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Sperimentale e Neuroscienze Cliniche, (BioNeC), Sezione di Otorinolaringoiatria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.|Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche e Forensi (Di.Bi.Me.F.), Sezione di Audiologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mucia
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche e Forensi (Di.Bi.Me.F.), Sezione di Audiologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: La Mattina
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche e Forensi (Di.Bi.Me.F.), Sezione di Audiologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biomedicina Sperimentale e Neuroscienze Cliniche, (BioNeC), Sezione di Otorinolaringoiatria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via del Vespro, 129-90127, Palermo, Italy. pietrosalvago@libero.it.|, Via Gioacchino Di Marzo, 37-90144, Palermo, Italy. pietrosalvago@libero.it.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salvago
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D038781:Otoscopy; D017286:Polysomnography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications*; D012913:Snoring / Q000150:complications*; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Hearing loss; Multi-frequency audiometry; OSAS; TEOAE; Tinnitus