Evaluation of medial olivocochlear efferent system and hearing loss in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

Background/aim: Autoimmune diseases are a remarkable issue for researchers due to their adverse effects on the auditory system, but for primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) there is little research on the comprehensive audiological findings in literature. The main objective of this study was to investigate the medial olivocochlear efferent functions of subjects with pSS and to examine the audiological findings.Materials and methods: The study included 36 subjects with pSS and 36 healthy subjects. All the subjects underwent testing including pure tone, speech, and high frequency audiometry; tympanometry and acoustic reflexes; distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE); and suppression of DPOAE.Results: The hearing thresholds of the pSS group were higher than those of the control at all frequencies (P 0.05).Conclusion: The study indicates thatbecause of obtaining normal suppression levels in DPOAE, the medial olivocochlear efferent systemis functional in pSS. However, there is a need for more tests, including auditory brainstem response, to evaluate the afferent auditory system in pSS.