ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To determine the incidence and severity of hearing loss in different frequencies in patients with pseudoexfoliation. Furthermore, possible links between homocysteine and pseudoexfoliation were evaluated. METHODS: Seventy-five consecutive patients with pseudoexfoliation and 75 sex- and age-matched subjects without pseudoexfoliation as control group were included in this prospective case-control study. Pure-tone audiometry was obtained in all subjects in both groups. Blood samples were obtained from 70 patients with pseudoexfoliation after overnight fasting for levels of homocysteine and analyzed by routine laboratory measurements. RESULTS: Fifty-two (69%) patients with pseudoexfoliation and 39 (52%) controls had sensorineural hearing loss in speech frequencies. The difference between pseudoexfoliation and control group with regard to the frequency of sensorineural hearing loss in speech frequencies was statistically significant (p=0.03). No relationship was found between the degree of glaucomatous damage and hearing threshold variables in the patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma. Plasma homocysteine levels showed no significant difference when patients with pseudoexfoliation and hearing loss were compared with patients with pseudoexfoliation and normal hearing threshold (p=0.5). Hyperhomocysteinemia was found in 58% (29/50) of pseudoexfoliation patients with hearing loss, and 55 % (11/20) of pseudoexfoliation patients with normal hearing threshold (p=0.8). No statistically significant correlation was found between plasma homocysteine and hearing loss in patients with pseudoexfoliation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest an association between sensorineural hearing loss and pseudoexfoliation in patients with pseudoexfoliation and glaucoma. The severity of hearing loss was not correlated with the degree of glaucomatous damage. There is no association between increased homocysteine levels and hearing loss in patients with pseudoexfoliation.
