Effect of interferon treatment on hearing of patients with chronic hepatitis C

ABSTRACT

Some reports in the literature have linked interferon therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C [HCV] with hearing loss. The aim of this study has been to examine the effects of interferon therapy on hearing of patients treated for HCV. Patients were recruited according to preset inclusion criteria from two centers. All patients received standard dose pegylated interferon [PEG-IFN alpha-2b or alpha-2a] plus ribavirin [RBV]. All patients had pure-tone audiometry [PTA], tympanogram and distortion-product otoacoustic emission [DPOAE] before treatment, three months after initiation of treatment, and three months after completion of treatment. Twenty one patients were prospectively recruited. The mean age was 45.7 years. The male to female ratio was 1.11. The mean PTA was 15.9 +/- 5.3 before treatment, 17.4 +/- 6.1 during treatment and 16.5 +/- 5.1 after treatment. The differences between pre and mid, pre and post, as well as mid and post were not significantly different [P>0.05] in all audiological assessments. Our results indicate that PEG-IFN/RBV therapy does not have any impact on the hearing thresholds of patients with HCV