LAUSR

Hearing loss in patients with autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA, Wegener’s granulomatosis), or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is controversial. Many studies lack measurements of bone-conduction thresholds to sufficiently differentiate between sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss. In addition, many studies lack control groups or comparisons to an age-related normal hearing threshold. This study investigates hearing performance with an extended audiological battery using psychoacoustic and objective measures. A total of 22 adults with RA, 16 with GPA, 20 with SLE, and two age- and gender-matched control groups (n = 34 for GPA and RA and n = 42 for SLE) were included. Pure-tone hearing thresholds, speech perception in quiet and noise, tympanometry, and high-resolution otoacoustic emissions were assessed. GPA patients exhibited impaired pure-tone hearing compared to the control group, whereas SLE and RA patients did not. In GPA patients, a larger air-bone gap indicated conductive hearing loss. In addition, speech perception was reduced exclusively in GPA patients. A significant correlation was found between hearing loss and both the cumulative steroid dose and number of organ manifestations in GPA and SLE patients. Our data indicate that GPA and SLE patients are at moderate-to-high risk of conductive hearing loss. In contrast, RA patients are at low risk of disease-associated hearing loss.