Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2012) 29 P1717

ICEECE2012 Poster Presentations Thyroid (non-cancer) (188 abstracts)

Evaluation of hearing and balance functions in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis

A. Arduc 1 , S. Isik 2 , S. Allusoglu 1 , A. Iriz 1 , F. Gokay 1 , B. Aycicek Dogan 1 , Y. Tutuncu 1 , C. Gocer 1 , D. Berker 1 & S. Guler 1


1Ministry of Health, Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; 2School of Medicine, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.


Introduction: It is commonly known that hearing and balance functions are affected in thyroid function disorders. In literature, there are very few studies demonstrating that hearing may be affected due to autoimmunity in euthyroid Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) independent from thyroid functions. In addition, hearing disorders have also been reported in other autoimmune diseases. For this reason, we investigated the functions of the peripheral and central sections of auditory system in patients with euthyroid HT.

Materials and methods: The study included 21 patients with euthyroid HT without any hearing complaints and 21 healthy individuals. Patients with histories of systemic disease, central nervous system pathology, ototoxic drug-substance use, acoustic trauma were excluded. Otoscopic examinations of the patients were normal. Both groups were implemented tympanometry, audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), Brain stem evoked auditory potentials (ABR), vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) tests.

Results: Demographic data of patient and control groups were similar (P>0.05). A difference was not established between the groups in terms of TSH, free T4, and free T3 values (P=0.46, P=0.39, P=0.62). Thyroid antithyroglobulin and antithyroperoxidase levels were high in the patient group (P<0.05). When compared the right and left ear audiometry average results of the groups, hearing threshold was found to be significantly higher at 250 dB in the patient group (P=0.015). A significant difference was not found between the two groups in other audiological and vestibular tests. A correlation was not established between thyroid antibody titer and hearing threshold at 250 dB (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The fact that low frequency hearing threshold we established in our euthyroid HT patients was higher may be correlated with autoimmune cochlear damage reported in literature. However, since this disorder was not possible to be demonstrated in other tests, we believe that further studies are of necessity.

Keywords: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, hearing loss, autoimmune thyroid disease.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.

Volume 29

15th International & 14th European Congress of Endocrinology

European Society of Endocrinology 

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