Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Objective: The study aimed to discuss the association between sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: We reviewed cases of patients with known IBD seen in an otolaryngology practice with documentation of all otologic data including age of onset, family history of otologic problems, exposure to noise, audiometric findings, and so on.

Results: Of 38 patients with a history of IBD, 22 had documented SNHL. Nineteen of these had no other identifiable etiology for their inner ear dysfunction. Fourteen of these patients had a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and 5 had Crohn disease. Sixteen patients had bilateral SNHL, and 3 patients had unilateral SNHL. Only one patient had a lasting response of SNHL to medical treatment.

Conclusion: This review suggests that SNHL is an extraintestinal association of IBD. As IBD is considered to be a local or systemic immunopathy, the associated SNHL might also be an expression of systemic immune dysfunction.