HEARING-LOSS IN BEHCETS-DISEASE

In order to determine the characteristics and incidence of hearing los s in Behcet's disease, 72 consecutive cases and 72 sex- and age-matche d normal subjects were submitted to this study. Detailed audiologic te sts were performed in all cases. Twenty patients (27%) showed some deg ree of hearing loss; but in only 7 patients (9%) was the average of th e frequencies between 500 to 4,000 Hz more than 25 dB hearing level, a nd the cochlear function of 43 patients (59%) was within the 25-dB ran ge in all frequencies. The averaged pure tone audiograms of the two gr oups showed a statistically significant hearing loss in the Behcet's g roup. No relationship could be found between hearing loss and other sy stem involvements. There was no correlation between hearing loss and d uration of the disease, but the mean age of the Behcet's patients with hearing loss was found to be significantly higher than the mean age o f the patients without hearing loss.