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Reflex Decay Test Can Reveal Ear Involvement in Fabry Disease

OBJECTIVES

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder that causes multisystem involvement, including ear disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the nature of auditory issues in FD using a wide spectrum of audiological tests.

DESIGN

This cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2017 and December 2018. We collected the clinical and laboratory data of 40 eligible FD patients, 45 healthy subjects, and 26 diabetic controls. All patients and controls completed audiologic evaluations that included tympanometry, acoustic reflex threshold test, reflex decay test, pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, transient otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), high-frequency audiometry, and distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE).

RESULTS

In our study population, hearing was reduced at higher frequencies starting at 4 kHz in both the FD and diabetic groups. Regarding the acoustic reflex threshold test, FD and diabetic patients had similar results. In all frequencies, positive decay was significantly more frequent in FD patients when compared with the diabetic patients and healthy controls (p < 0.001 for each ear). The FD patients and healthy controls had similar results for DPOAE testing.

CONCLUSIONS

We showed that FD patients had a higher rate of reflex decay, indicating retrocochlear involvement. Thus, further investigation of factors associated with retrocochlear involvement could be investigated, such as ABR and speech in noise tests.

Hearing loss in adult patients with Fabry disease treated with enzyme replacement therapy

INTRODUCTION

Data on prevalence, natural history, and effect of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) on hearing loss (HL) in Fabry disease (FD) are scarce.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study with cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Low and high-frequency HL in the Dutch FD cohort was studied in four groups: classical and non-classical FD patients with or without ERT. To study effects of ERT, longitudinal data, corrected for age and gender according to ISO-1999 guidelines, were analyzed with mixed models.

RESULTS

In the cross-sectional analysis, 107 FD patients (41 males), median age 47.6 years (18.8-80.6) were analyzed. At baseline, i.e., before start of ERT, HL was present in 18 patients (16.8 %), of whom four had bilateral sensorineural HL. HL was more often present in patients with the classical phenotype than non-classical patients (p < 0.01). Likewise, males had more often HL than females. Compared to the general population, FD patients show a median HL of 8.2 dB at low frequencies (p < 0.01) and 29.5 dB at ultra-high frequencies (p < 0.01). Longitudinal analyses (n = 91) revealed that ERT treated patients show a similar rate of decline, not significantly different from healthy controls.

CONCLUSION

Adult FD patients, especially classical affected males, show impaired hearing. Longitudinal analyses during ERT in these patients demonstrates a decline of HL similar to healthy controls, but HL present before initiation of therapy cannot be reversed. Whether early therapy can prevent hearing loss is unknown.