title: Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with Kawasaki disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Kawasaki disease involves acute febrile systemic vasculitis that can cause a variety of symptoms by affecting various organs. Here, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence, causes, and prognosis of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) occurring in children with Kawasaki disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who were diagnosed with Kawasaki disease and received inpatient treatment in the Pediatrics Department at one of three university hospitals in Daegu city from February 2012 to September 2012 were enrolled in the study. The clinical features, hematological results, echocardiography results, audiometry results, and aspirin and salicylic acid serum levels of the patients were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 59 children enrolled in the study, three showed mild bilateral SNHL on audiometry tests conducted after 48 hours of defervescence; these patients demonstrated normal patterns of recovery on follow-up tests 8 weeks later. Aspirin serum levels were significantly higher in the SNHL group after 48 hours of afebrile condition with high dose aspirin intake (P=0.034). However, no significant differences were found in other laboratory tests or for fever duration (P>0.05). Upon echocardiography, coronary artery abnormality was observed in 9 cases, but none of these patients showed hearing loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that SNHL in children with Kawasaki disease might occur during treatment of the acute phase; this SNHL usually involves mild bilateral hearing loss and recovers naturally. However, this study suggests that determination of the causes and clinical implications of hearing loss in Kawasaki disease requires long-term follow-up studies with more cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hyun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeo Hyang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Chul
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hwan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Aspirin; Kawasaki disease; Sensorineural hearing loss