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.