Hearing Impairments as an Overlooked Condition in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Melis Simsir, Muhammed Gazi Yildiz, Murat Karatas, Abdullah Dalgic, Ilyas Ozturk, Erhan Tatar, Necmi Eren, Ertugrul Erken, Ozkan Gungor, Orcun Altunoren

Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation 2022

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It is not known whether hearing disorders improves with kidney transplantation. One of the neurotoxic effects of immunosuppressive drugs may be unrecognized hearing loss. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the hearing disorders in kidney transplant patients. Hearing problems in 46 kidney transplant patients [eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (30 Tacrolimus, 16 mTOR inhibitor users)], 23 hemodialysis patients, and 20 healthy controls were evaluated with a questionnaire and high-frequency audiometry. More than half (58.7%) of the transplant patients had at least one hearing problem. Hearing loss was observed in 50%, 60.9% and 76.1% of the transplant patients at 8,000, 16,000 and 20,000 Hz. Hearing thresholds of transplant and hemodialysis patients increased from 4,000 to 20,000 Hz and was higher than that of controls. Hearing thresholds were higher at 1,000-2,000 Hz in patients using tacrolimus and at 16,000-20,000 Hz in patients using mTOR inhibitor. No correlation was found between hearing threshold and blood tacrolimus or mTOR inhibitor levels. Most kidney transplant and hemodialysis patients have hearing loss at higher frequencies than medium frequencies. Hearing loss in chronic kidney patients is likely to be permanent and kidney transplantation may not improve hearing problems. Hearing problems may be more pronounced at medium frequencies in patients receiving tacrolimus but at higher frequencies in patients receiving mTOR inhibitors. Copyright © 2022 Simsir, Yildiz, Karatas, Dalgic, Ozturk, Tatar, Eren, Erken, Gungor and Altunoren.

Citation

Melis Simsir, Muhammed Gazi Yildiz, Murat Karatas, Abdullah Dalgic, Ilyas Ozturk, Erhan Tatar, Necmi Eren, Ertugrul Erken, Ozkan Gungor, Orcun Altunoren. Hearing Impairments as an Overlooked Condition in Kidney Transplant Recipients. Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation. 2022;35:10198