Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Hemodialysis Patients

Chronic renal failure affects all organ systems. Senses are not exception and hearing impairment is common, particularly sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The term »SNOS of unknown origin« or »uremic deafness« is related to only a smaller part of the cases with unclear etiology of the impairment. The study searched for SNOS in 66 chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients, mean age 51.50±12.70 years. They were treated by HD for 69.70±53.80 months. The relation between the severity of the impairment and the patients’ age, duration of HD treatment (months) and a set of laboratory parameters typical for chronic HD patients was examined. The aim of the study was to detect potential causes of the impairment. The increased hearing threshold (HT) of above 20 dB for all frequencies was found in 42 patients (mean HT 26±10.50 dB), for speaking area frequencies in 22 patients (mean HT 19.70±8.80 dB), and in 56 patients for high frequencies (mean HT 41.70±19.70 dB). The significant positive correlation of HT was found only with the patients’ age (r=0.49, p