RESUMEN
Objectives: To assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and their impact on acute unilateral inner ear hypofunction (AUIEH), including acute unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy (AUPVP), sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and acute unilateral audiovestibular hypofunction (AUAVH). Methods: One hundred and twenty-five patients consecutively diagnosed with AUPVP, SSNHL or AUAVH and 250 sex- and age-matched controls were included. Cases presented a mean age of 58.6 ± 14.7 years and included 59 women and 66 men. The correlation between CVRFs (high blood pressure [HBP], diabetes mellitus [DM], dyslipidemia [DLP], cardiocerebrovascular disease [CCVD]) and AUIEH was assessed by multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis. Results: A higher prevalence of CVRFs was identified in patients than in controls (30 individuals with DM, 53 with HBP, 45 with DLP and 14 with a previous history of CCVD, p < .05). A significantly elevated risk of AUIEH was found in patients with two or more CVRFs (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 5.11; 95% CI 2.23-11.70). Previous CCVD individually predicted AUIEH (OR 8.41; 95% CI 2.36-29.88). Subgroup analysis showed the same tendency for AUPVP and SSNHL. Conclusion: Acute unilateral inner ear hypofunction patients presented significantly more CVRFs than controls, and the presence of two or more CVRFs was associated with AUIEH. Future studies evaluating vascular risk in AUIEH may include AUPVP and SSNHL patients from the same source population to better characterize risk profiles that can indicate a vascular origin. Level of Evidence: 3b.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: It was previously suggested that patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to determine if ISSNHL patients have an increased cardiovascular risk by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Libraries and Web of Science. Studies with a clear definition of ISSNHL, investigating an association between traditional vascular risk factors and ISSNHL were included. Adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, two reviewers extracted the data, assessed the risk of bias and performed the analysis of the collected evidence. RESULTS: Nineteen case-control studies and two cohort studies were included (102,292 patients). Individual studies argued for higher prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus (DM) and higher blood pressure (HBP) in ISSNHL patients with a range of odds ratios (ORs) from 1.03 to 19. Pooled analysis of adjusted ORs revealed a significantly increased risk of ISSNHL for patients with hypertriglyceridemia (OR 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-2.02) and high levels of total cholesterol (TC) (OR 2.09; 95% CI 1.52-2.87 after sensitivity analysis), but not for HBP, DM, or high levels of low- and high-density lipoproteins. CONCLUSION: An association between higher vascular risk profile and ISSNHL seems apparent in high levels of triglycerides (TG) and TC, but more studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis due to the high levels of data heterogeneity in the literature. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 133:15-24, 2023.