Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T01:24:08.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sudden sensorineural deafness and hormone replacement therapy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

David Strachan
David Strachan*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, St. James' Beckett Street, Leeds, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Mr D. R. Strachan, Department of Otolaryngolgy, St James' Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds LS9 7TF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Whilst the oral contraceptive pill (OC) has been implicated on a number oif occasions as a cause of sensorineural hearing loss, there are no published reports linking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to otological symptoms. A case of sensorineural loss with tinnitus following commencement of HRT is described, followed by a discussion outlining the fundamental differences between the OC and HRT, thus expaining why a vascular aetiology is unlikely. It is hypothesized that otological symptoms in such cases may be due to the effect of oestrogens on electrolyte balance disturbing inner ear function and also a direct effect on the auditory pathways mediated in part by alterations in neurotransmitter receptor concentrations.

Keywords

Hearing loss, sensorineuralOestrogen replacement therapy
Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 110 , Issue 12 , December 1996 , pp. 1148 - 1150
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreyko, J. L., Jaffe, R. B. 1989 Use of a gonadotropinreleasing hormone agonist analogue for treatment of cyclic auditory dysfunction. Obstetrics and Gynecology 74: 506–509.Google ScholarPubMed
Biegon, A. H., McEwan, B. S. 1982 Modulation by estradiol of serotonin1 receptors in brain. Journal of Neuroscience 2: 199–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Programme 1974 Surgically confirmed gall-bladder disease, venous thromboembolism and breast tumours in relation to postmenopausal estrogen therapy. New England Journal of Medicine 290: 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, J. R. 1980 Hormonal influence on auditory function. Ear Hear 1: 219–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeLignierres, B., Basdevant, A., Thomas, G. 1986 Biologic effects of oestradiol-17B in postmenopausal women: oral versus percutaneous administration. Journal of Clinical Endocrinol Metabolism 62: 536–541.Google Scholar
Ellerington, M. C., Whitcroft, S. I. J., Whitehead, M. I. 1992 HRT: Developments in therapy. British Medical Bulletin 48(2): 401–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gonzalez, G., Istre, C., Robin, W. 1968 Labyrinthine catastrophe; is it the pill? Journal of Louisiana State Medical Society 120: 487–94.Google ScholarPubMed
Hanna, G. S. 1986 Sudden deafness and the contraceptive pill. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 100: 701–706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hassager, C., Riis, B. J., Strom, V., Guyenne, T. T., Christiansen, C. 1987 The long-term effect of oral and percutaneous estradiol on plasma renin substrate and blood pressure. Circulation 76: 753–758.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kase, N. G., Speroff, L. 1980 In Metabolic Control and Disease (Bonely, P., Rosenburg, L., eds.) Saunders and Co., pp 1610–1611.Google Scholar
Kelly, M. J., Moss, R. L., Dudley, C. A. 1976 Differential sensitivity of preoptic-septal neurons to microelectrophoresed estrogen during the estrous cycle. Brain Research 114: 152–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kucharczyk, J. 1984 Neuroendocrine mechanisms mediating fluid intake during the estrous cycle. Brain Research Bulletin 12: 175–180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, M. H., Gould, W. J. 1967 Fluctuating sensorineural hearing impairment associated with the menstrual cycle. Journal of Audiological Research 7: 373–385.Google Scholar
Radev, A. I. 1973 Effect of the sequential use of estradiol and progesterone on the excretion of sodium and potassium and their level in kidney tissue. Problemy endokrinolog (Moskva) 19: 91–96.Google Scholar
Schiff, M. 1968 The pill in otolaryngology. Transactions of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology 72: 76–83.Google ScholarPubMed
Sellars, S. L. 1971 Acute deafness associated with depoprogesterone. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 85: 281–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, N. L., Boulant, J. A. 1986 Effects of testosterone, estradiol, and temperature on neurons in preoptic tissue slices. American Journal of Physiology 19: R625–R632.Google Scholar