OTONEUROLOGIC ABNORMALITIES IN INSULIN-DE PENDENT DIABETES

Objective. To assess the auditory and vestibular function in patients with diabetes. Material and methods. We studied and followed for three years, 10 patients (6 females) of 20.6 years of age (SD 5.5 years), w ith insulindependent diabetes mellitus of 9.5 years (SD 3.7 years). Th e patients were selected for having peripheral neuropathy without prol ipherative retinopathy and otologic disease or individual factors whic h could cause neuro-otologic symptoms. Their glomerular filtration rat e and renal plasma flow were 150 mL/min (SD 50) and 543 mL/min (SD 113 ). Results. initially all patients had normal audiologic responses, in cluding auditory brainstem responses, but had abnormally and simetrica lly diminished horizontal vestibule-ocular responses. A year later one patient had vertigo and asymmetric vestibule-ocular responses, in the third year, another patient showed similar abnormalities and a third one showed sensorineural hearing loss. Conclusion. Our results suggest that patients with insulindependent diabetes mellitus may suffer neur o-otological deterioration.