Blood Viscosity in COVID-19 Patients With Sudden Deafness

Changes in blood viscoelastic properties have been proposed previosuly as etiopathogenesis for severe complications in COVID-19 and some cases of Sudden Deafness (SD). This is an attempt to verify if SD cases in patients admitted for SARS-Cov-2 infection can be correlated. A prospective follow-up was carried out with COVID-19 patients, monitoring their blood viscosity (BV) at high shear rate (300 s−1) and inquiring them periodically for eventual hearing loss. This measurement was extended to cases bearing of SD in 2019 and 2020 without infection and a control group of healthy normoacoustic subjects. The normality range was 4,16 ± 0,62 cps. 330 cases admitted for COVID-19 were evaluated from February 24th, 2020 to March 24th, 2021, 85 of them attended in ICU. After anamnesis and Audiometric Tone Thresholds developed as soon as possible, 9 SD were detected, all belonging to ICU group. The mean BV was 4,38 ± 0,43 cps in the ward group, 4,53 ± 0,39 cps in the ICU patients without SD, and 4,85 ± 0,52 cps in the cases with SD, with statistically significant differences. Highest BV elevations in the SD cases were detected between days 6 and 10 of hospital admission. In 2019 four cases consulted with SD, and another two did it in 2020 without a diagnosis of COVID-19, with normal BV values. During SARS-Cov-2 infection, patients may show high BV and SS, although an inpatients control group and a larger sample volume are necessary to confirm the predisposition to hyperviscosity. The incidence of hearing damage is considerable if its possible appearance is taken into account, within the limitations of critical patients with COVID-19. La alteración en las propiedades viscoelásticas de la sangre ha sido anteriormente propuesta como etiopatogenia de complicaciones severas por COVID-19 y algunos casos de Sordera Súbita (SS). Pretendemos verificar si la aparición de casos de SSI en pacientes ingresados por infección por SARS-Cov-2 puede correlacionarse de este modo. Estudio longitudinal prospectivo de pacientes ingresados en nuestro Centro por COVID-19, efectuando monitorización de la viscosidad sanguínea (VS) a alta velocidad de cizallamiento (300 seg−1) y un requerimiento periódico personal sobre hipoacusia. Esta determinación se extendió a casos atendidos por SS sin infección en 2019 y 2020 y un grupo control de sujetos sanos normoacúsicos. El rango de normalidad se situó en 4,16 ± 0,62 cps. Entre el 24 de Febrero de 2020 y el 24 de Marzo de 2021 se evaluaron 330 casos