Hearing impairment in pregnancy toxemia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Preeclampsia characterized by widespread endothelial damage and dysfunction, systemic toxicity, coagulation defects, and an increased systemic inflammatory response, poses some risk factors for hearing loss. STUDY DESIGN: A case-control study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two groups with 37 pre-eclamptic and 38 healthy pregnant women were matched by age. Other factors that could possibly influence hearing were ruled out. Transient otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) was carried out for both groups before delivery and was repeated two weeks after delivery in cases of failure. RESULTS: We could not find any abnormality in the healthy pregnant women who underwent the TEOAE test, but five of the preeclamptic women failed the initial test before delivery. This condition was recovered two weeks later. Statistical analysis showed significant difference (TEOAE disturbances) between the two groups ( P = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that pregnancy toxemia might have effects on hearing abilities.