title: Hearing function after betahistine therapy in patients with Ménière's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preventing or reversing hearing loss is challenging in Ménière's disease. Betahistine, as a histamine agonist, has been tried in controlling vertigo in patients with Ménière's disease, but its effectiveness on hearing problems is not known.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effect of betahistine on hearing function in not-previously-treated patients with Ménière's disease and to define possible contributors in this regard.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 200 not-previously-treated patients with definite unilateral Ménière's disease received betahistine by mouth (initial dose, 16mg three times a day; maintenance dose, 24-48mg daily in divided doses). Changes in indicators of hearing status before and six months after treatment were documented. Hearing loss was considered as the mean hearing level >25dB HL at five frequencies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean duration of disease was 3.37 years. Six months after treatment the mean hearing level decreased by 6.35dB compared to that at the baseline (p<0.001). Both patients' age and the duration of disease correlated negatively with the improvement in hearing function. Post treatment hearing loss was independently associated with age, the initial hearing level and the chronicity of disease. The corresponding optimal cut-off points for predicating a persistent hearing loss 6 months after treatment were 47 years, 38dB HL, and 1.4 years, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral betahistine was significantly effective in preventing/reversing hearing deterioration in patients with Ménière's disease. Age, the hearing level on admission, and the disease duration were independent predictors of hearing status after treatment.
authors.affiliation: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Imam Reza Teaching Center, Department of ENT, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Javad
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Seyed Tootoonchi
authors.affiliation: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Imam Reza Teaching Center, Department of ENT, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Samad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghiasi
authors.affiliation: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Imam Reza Teaching Center, Department of ENT, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Parvaneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shadara
authors.affiliation: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Simin Mirakhor
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Samani
authors.affiliation: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: Medicorelax@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Daniel Fadaei
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Fouladi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D001621:Betahistine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D017442:Histamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D038781:Otoscopy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017442:Histamine Agonists; D001621:Betahistine
keywords: Doença de Ménière; Hearing loss; Medical treatment; Ménière's disease; Perda de audição; Prognosis; Prognóstico; Tratamento médico
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