Audiometric evaluation in individuals with mucopolysaccharidosis.

OBJECTIVES

To characterize the audiometric evaluation and acoustic immittance measures in different types of mucopolysaccharidosis.

METHOD: Fifty-three mucopolysaccharidosis patients were evaluated. The classification consisted of type I (Hurler syndrome, Hurler-Scheie and Scheie syndrome), type II (Hunter syndrome), type III (Sanfilippo syndrome), type IV (Morquio syndrome), and type VI (Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome). Immittance audiometry and play or conventional threshold tone audiometry were used to obtain auditory thresholds and were chosen according to the patient's chronological age and ability to understand/respond to the procedure. The findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics and considering the recommendations for research involving human beings contained in Resolution CNE N° 466/2012.

RESULTS

Fifty-one subjects (96.2%) had hearing loss, and the conductive type was the most frequent. Only two (3.8%) patients presented bilateral thresholds within normal limits, one with type IV mucopolysaccharidosis and the other with type VI. There were 11 individuals (20.8%) with mucopolysaccharidosis type I with mixed hearing loss, 9 (16.9%) individuals with type I with conductive hearing loss and 9 (16.9%) with type VI with conductive hearing loss. Mild hearing loss was most common (37.3%), followed by moderately severe hearing loss (36.3%). The type B tympanometric curve (80.4%) was the most frequent.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the individuals with mucopolysaccharidosis types I, II, III, IV and VI presented mixed or conductive hearing losses of mild to moderately severe degree, type B tympanograms and an absence of contralateral acoustic reflexes.