Hearing loss and acquired immune deficiency syndrome: systematic review

Abstracts

OBJETIVO: Investigar a ocorrência de perda auditiva em indivíduos com HIV/AIDS e sua caracterização quanto ao tipo e grau. ESTRATÉGIA DE PESQUISA: Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura nas bases de dados eletrônicas PubMed, EMBASE, ADOLEC, IBECS, Web of Science, Scopus, Lilacs e SciELO. CRITÉRIOS DE SELEÇÃO: A estratégia de busca foi direcionada por uma questão específica "A perda auditiva faz parte do quadro de manifestações do HIV/AIDS?", e os critérios de seleção dos estudos envolveram a coerência com o tema proposto, os níveis de evidência 1, 2 ou 3 e o idioma (Português, Inglês e Espanhol). ANÁLISE DOS DADOS: Foram localizados 698 estudos. Após análise do título e resumo, selecionaram-se 91 para leitura completa. Destes, apenas 38 atenderam aos critérios propostos e foram incluídos na revisão. RESULTADOS: Os estudos relataram a presença de perda auditiva condutiva, sensorioneural e mista, de grau e configuração audiométrica variáveis, além de zumbido e distúrbios vestibulares. A etiologia pode ser atribuída às infecções oportunistas, medicamentos ototóxicos ou à ação do próprio vírus. Os potenciais evocados auditivos têm sido utilizados como marcadores de alteração neurológica, mesmo em pacientes com audição normal. CONCLUSÃO: Pacientes portadores de HIV/AIDS podem apresentar perda auditiva. Sendo assim, programas de prevenção e tratamento da AIDS devem envolver ações voltadas à saúde auditiva.

HIV; Síndrome de imunodeficiência adquirida; Perda auditiva; Infecções oportunistas relacionadas com a AIDS; Audição

EVIDENCE-BASED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY AND AUDIOLOGY

Hearing loss and acquired immune deficiency syndrome: systematic review

Eliene da Silva Araújo^I; Fernanda Zucki^II; Lilian Cássia Bórnia Jacob Corteletti^III; Andrea Cintra Lopes^III; Mariza Ribeiro Feniman^III; Kátia de Freitas Alvarenga^III

^IGraduate Program (Masters degree) in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Bauru School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo - USP - Bauru (SP), Brazil

^IIGraduate Program (Doctorate degree) in Applied Odontological Sciences, Bauru School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo - USP - Bauru (SP), Brazil

^IIIDepartment of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Bauru School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo - USP - Bauru (SP), Brazil

^{Correspondence address}

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate the occurrence of hearing loss in individuals with HIV/AIDS and their characterization regarding type and degree.

RESEARCH STRATEGY: It was conducted a systematic review of the literature found on the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, ADOLEC, IBECS, Web of Science, Scopus, Lilacs and SciELO.

SELECTION CRITERIA: The search strategy was directed by a specific question: "Is hearing loss part of the framework of HIV/AIDS manifestations?", and the selection criteria of the studies involved coherence with the proposed theme, evidence levels 1, 2 or 3, and language (Portuguese, English and Spanish).

DATA ANALYSIS: We found 698 studies. After an analysis of the title and abstract, 91 were selected for full reading. Out of these, 38 met the proposed criteria and were included on the review.

RESULTS: The studies reported presence of conductive, sensorineural, and mixed hearing loss, of variable degrees and audiometric configurations, in addition to tinnitus and vestibular disorders. The etiology can be attributed to opportunistic infections, ototoxic drugs or to the action of virus itself. The auditory evoked potentials have been used as markers of neurological alterations, even in patients with normal hearing.

CONCLUSION: HIV/AIDS patients may present hearing loss. Thus, programs for prevention and treatment of AIDS must involve actions aimed at auditory health.

Keywords: HIV; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Hearing loss; AIDS-related opportunistic infections; Hearing.

INTRODUCTION

Exactly three decades ago, the world saw the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (SIDA in Portuguese, widely known as AIDS) for the first time, a quiet illness, that in little time would reach pandemic standards⁽¹⁾. Since then, the scientific community worldwide has studied this clinical syndrome, its manifestations in man and the possibilities of cure. Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a specific retrovirus, AIDS affects the immune system, causing the occurrence of several opportunistic infections⁽²⁾.

It is known that the central nervous system and the immune system are the main targets of the infection by the AIDS virus. There is a direct relationship between the phase of HIV infection, the patient's immunological involvement, and the neurological complications.

The first reports described in literature alluded that the infection caused by the AIDS virus can directly affect the auditory function due to the neurotropic nature of the virus, which generally manifests itself neurologically. The difficulty in establishing a direct relationship between cause and effect regarding AIDS and its auditory manifestations has proven to be a problem. Although some authors associate the indirect causes of these manifestations to the opportunistic infections - even though they might be a direct consequence of an immune system affected by the HIV infection, there's currently no consensus in literature concerning this issue.

About 20 to 40% of the patients present some type of auditory and/or vestibular manifestation as a result of the infection by the AIDS virus⁽³⁾. Such manifestations may vary from alterations on the tympanic membrane, otitis (externa, chronic media, secretory media), otorrhea, tinnitus, vertigo, conductive and sensorineural hearing loss to alterations on the central auditory pathways^(4-9).

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the occurrence of hearing loss in individuals with HIV/AIDS, as well as its characterization regarding type and degree, by means of a systematic review of the literature.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

Search strategy

The search strategy was directed by a specific question "Is hearing loss part of the framework of manifestations of the HIV/AIDS?". With the aim to identify the articles pertinent to the proposed question, a broad search was conducted in the period between February 2 and 25, 2011, in the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASES, ADOLEC, IBECS, web-of-Science, Scopus, Lilacs, SciELO.

In order to accomplish the search, the following combination of keywords was used: (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) OR (HIV Infection) OR (HIV Seropositivity) OR (HIV) OR (human immunodeficiency virus) OR (AIDS Related Opportunistic Infections) AND (hearing impairment) OR (hearing loss) OR (deafness) OR (audiolog*) OR (auditory). Such combination was searched in three distinct languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Selection criteria

The studies were selected in two stages. In the first stage, the titles and abstracts of all studies found were analyzed, excluding theses, dissertations and publications in annals of events. The inclusion criteria adopted were: (1) to present evidence levels 1, 2 or 3, according to the classification proposed by Cox⁽¹⁰⁾; (2) to involve patients with HIV or AIDS; (3) to analyze the occurrence of hearing loss, of any type and degree; and (4) to have been published in one of the languages previously defined. In the second stage, potentially relevant articles were fully read, seeking to analyze whether or not they effectively met the purposed inclusion criteria.

Data analysis

For each article selected in the second stage, a predefined protocol covering topics such as the occurrence of hearing loss in this specific population, the type and degree of hearing loss, the audiometric configuration and the probable etiologies was used.

RESULTS

The process of obtaining the articles selected for this systematic review of the literature had two stages, following pre-defined criteria (Figure 1). With the conclusion of this process, 38 articles were included in the review, and their relevance could be proven after a strict reading process.

The result of the content analysis of the 38 articles was obtained after individual verification of each one of them (Figure 2). The articles included in this review used, in their methodology, pure-tone threshold audiometry as instrument for audiological evaluation. However, the use of auditory evoked potentials as markers of neurological alteration, even in patients with normal hearing, was reported in 15 studies (39.47%).

The studies presented several characteristics, having as basis populations, objectives and heterogeneous methodological procedures. These facts, combined with a qualitative analysis of the data, allowed conclusions concerning hearing loss as manifestation of HIV/AIDS.

The results obtained by this systematic review do not represent the totality of research in the area. In the methodological proposal employed, a more restricted study design was chosen, both regarding consulted databases and the language presented in the original article. However, the design of this study, by encompassing the more relevant databases, as well as English, Spanish, and Portuguese, ended up reflecting a significant number of articles that had effectively approached hearing loss in individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Most of the studies were developed with the adult population and, even though it was observed that the patient with HIV/AIDS can potentially present hearing loss independently of the age group, it was not possible to characterize the audiological profile of these patients. It is known that, in the presence of some illnesses, it is characteristic to observe the occurrence of a determined type and degree of hearing loss, and a specific audiometrical configuration. In the presence of the virus or the syndrome studied here, the hearing loss presented variable characteristics, possibly being of conductive^{(1,3,5,8,11-24)}, sensorioneural^{(1,3-6,8,9,11,13-15,17-33)} or mixed^{(15,18-20,22,24)}. Regarding the audiometric configuration, it was possible to observe the occurrence of hearing loss in high frequencies^{(9,22,26-28,31-33)}, in isolate frequency^(9,19), in plane curve^(23,33), in "inverted U"⁽²³⁾, and descendant⁽²³⁾. Regarding the degree of hearing loss, studies have demonstrated variability between mild and profound, both for child and adult populations, which is related to the type of hearing loss.

The variability of the audiological profile of the HIV/AIDS carrier can result from the broad possibility of causes of the hearing loss in these individuals. Among them: the clinical condition of the patients, making them susceptible to numerous opportunistic infections^{(3-6,11-15,17,20,21,23,25,31,33)} ; the ototoxic drugs frequently used in the framework of HIV/AIDS^{(4,9,11,13,15,17,20,22,23,25,28,34)} ; and the action of the virus itself^{(5,13,17,27,33)}.

Although hearing loss related to HIV/AIDS was the main focus of this work from the very beginning, two other manifestations associated to the illness could be observed throughout this review: tinnitus, described in 18.42% of the articles^{(3,15,21,22,25,28)}, and vestibular alterations, cited in 34.2% of the studies^{(7,11,15,21,22,24-27,34,35)}. Such manifestations were considered the main non-auditory complaints and symptoms of HIV/AIDS patients.

A last aspect to be highlighted is related to the neurological manifestations associated with HIV and the auditory evoked potentials. In the present literature review, the brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) was considered a procedure of significant sensitivity both for the identification of alterations in the central auditory pathway and for monitoring the evolution of the illness⁽⁸⁾, regardless of the occurrence of hearing loss in HIV/AIDS patients^{(3,5,7,8,18,22,24-27,33,36-38)}.

CONCLUSION

It is not possible to establish a typical audiological profile for HIV/AIDS patients. However, hearing loss is a frequent alteration in these patients. Thus, it is of significant relevance that actions directed to hearing health are added to programs for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Received: 8/25/2011

Accepted: 3/20/2012

Study conducted at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Bauru School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo - USP - Bauru (SP), Brazil

Conflict of interests: None

• 1. World Health Organization. Global HIV/AIDS e STD surveillance [Internet]. 1998 [cited 2011 May 10]. Available from: http://www.who.int/emc-hiv/global_report/slides/
• 2. Friedland GH, Klein RS. Transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. N Engl J Med. 1987;317(18):1125-35.
• 3. Mata Castro N, Yebra Bango M, Tutor de Ureta P, Villarreal García-Lomas M, García López F. Hearing loss and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Study of 30 patients. Rev Clin Esp. 2000;200(5):271-4.
• 4. Ferreira NG, Ferreira AG. Manifestações otorrinolaringológicas em pacientes infectados com o vírus da AIDS. Folha Méd. 1992;105(3):147-56.
• 5. Madriz JJ, Herrera G. Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS-related hearing disorders. J Am Acad Audiol. 1995;6(5):358-64.
• 6. Macedo ME, Ferreira NG, Silva PP, Feier CA, Pezzin AC. Manifestações otológicas da Aids. J Bras Med. 2002;82(4):56-7.
• 7. Palacios GC, Montalvo MS, Fraire MI, Leon E, Alvarez MT, Solorzano F. Audiologic and vestibular findings in a sample of human immunodeficiency virus type-1-infected Mexican children under highly active antiretroviral therapy. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaringol. 2008;72(11):1671-81.
• 8. Matas CG, dos Santos Filha VA, Juan KR, Pinto FR, Gonçalves IC. Manifestações audiológicas em crianças e adultos com AIDS. Pró-Fono. 2010;22(3):269-74.
• 9. Matas CG, Marcon BA, Silva SM, Gonçalves IC. Avaliação auditiva na Síndrome da Imunodeficiência Adquirida. Rev Soc Bras Fonoaudiol. 2010;15(2):174-8.
• 10. Cox RM. Waiting for evidence-based practice for your hearing aid fittings? It's here!! Hear J. 2004;57(8):10-7.
• 11. Campanini A, Marani M, Mastroianni A, Cancellieri C, Vicini C. Human immunodeficiency virus infection: personal experience in changes in head and neck manifestations due to recent antiretroviral therapies. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2005;25(1):30-5.
• 12. Desai SD. Seropositivity, adenoid hypertrophy, and secretory otitis media in adults - a recognized clinical entity. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1992;107(6 Pt 1):755-7.
• 13. Gurney TA, Murr AH. Otolaryngologic manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Otolaryngol Clin N Am. 2003;36(4):607-24.
• 14. Kohan D, Hammerschlag PE, Holliday RA. Otologic disease in AIDS patients: CT correlation. Laryngoscope. 1990;100(12):1326-30.
• 15. Kohan D, Rothstein SG, Coehn NL. Otologic disease in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1988;97(6 Pt 1):636-40.
• 16. Kozlowski LC. Perfil audiológico de um grupo de crianças HIV positivas. Acta ORL. 2006;24(4):277-80.
• 17. Lalwani AK, Sooy CD. Otologic and neurotologic manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Otolaryngol Clin N Am. 1992;25(6):1183-97.
• 18. Matas CG, Leite RA, Magliaro FC, Gonçalves IC. Audiological and electrophysiological evaluation of children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Braz J Infect Dis. 2006;10(4):264-8.
• 19. Matas CG, Silva SM, Marcon BA, Gonçalves IC. Manifestações eletrofisiológicas em adultos com HIV/AIDS submetidos e não-submetidos à terapia anti-retroviral. Pró-Fono. 2010;22(2):107-13.
• 20. Morata TC, Bevilaqua MC, Zeigelboim BS. Saúde auditiva, o vírus da imunodeficiência humana e a síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida: uma revisão. Rev CEFAC. 2010;12(4):678-84.
• 21. Rarey KE. Otologic pathophysiology in patients with human immunodeficiency virus. Am J Otolaryngol. 1990;11(6):366-9.
• 22. Soucek S, Michaels L. The ear in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: II. Clinical and audiologic investigation. Am J Otol. 1996;17(1):35-9.
• 23. Miziara ID, Valentini Junior M. Doença de causa otorrinolaringológica em pacientes com AIDS. J Bras Med. 1999;76(1/2):24-34.
• 24. Zambetti G, Luce M, Ciofalo A, Leonardi M, Filiaci F. Otorhinolaryngological aspects of HIV infections: personal experience. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 1994;22(5):192-6.
• 25. Bankaitis AE, Keith RW. Audiological changes associated with HIV infection. Ear Nose Throat J. 1995;74(5):353-9.
• 26. Domenech J, Fuste J, Traserra J. Trastornos del equilibrio y de la audición en pacientes infectados por el VIH-1. Rev Neurol. 1996;24(136):1623-6.
• 27. Hausler R, Vibert D, Koralnik IJ, Hirschel B. Neuro-otological manifestations in different stages of HIV infection. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1991; 481: 515-21.
• 28. Wechkin CM, Marra CM, Longstreth WT, Syapin CL, Rees TR, Gates GA. Hearing-loss and HIV: effects of antiretroviral medications. Neurology. 1995;45(4 Suppl 4):A444-5.
• 29. McNeilly LG. HIV and communication. J Commun Disord. 2005;38(4):303-10.
• 30. Moazzez AH, Alvi A. Head and neck manifestations of AIDS in adults. Am Fam Physician. 1998;57(8):1813-22.
• 31. Morris MS, Prasad S. Otologic disease in the acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome. Ear Nose Throat J. 1990;69(7):451-3.
• 32. Schouten JT, Lockhart DW, Rees TS, Collier AC, Marra CM. A prospective study of hearing changes after beginning zidovudine or didanosine in HIV-1 treatment-naive people. BMC Infect Dis. 2006;6:28.
• 33. Welkoborsky HJ, Lowitzsch K. Auditory brain stem responses in patients with human immunotropic virus infection of different stages. Ear Hear. 1992;13(1):55-7.
• 34. Marra CM, Wechkin HA, Longstreth WT Jr, Rees TS, Syapin CL, Gates GA. Hearing loss and antiretroviral therapy in patients infected with HIV-1. Arch Neurol. 1997;54(4):407-10.
• 35. Davis LE, Rarey KE, McLaren LC. Clinical viral infections and temporal bone histologic studies of patients with AIDS. Ototaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1995;113(6):695-701.
• 36. Koralnik IJ, Beaumanoir A, Häusler R, Kohler A, Safran AB, Delacoux R, et al. A controlled study of early abnormalities in men with asymptomatic human immunodeficiency vírus infection. N Engl J Med. 1990;323(13): 864-70.
• 37. Boccellari AA, Dilley JW, Yingling CD, Chambers DB, Tauber MA, Moss AR, et al. Relationship of CD4 counts to neurophysiological function in HIV-1infected homosexual men. Arch Neurol. 1993;50(5):517-21.
• 38. Matas CG, Iorio MC, Succi RC. Auditory disorders and acquisition of the ability to localize sound in children born to HIV-positive mothers. Braz J Infect Dis. 2008;12(1):10-4.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  20 July 2012
• Date of issue
  2012

History

• Received
  2011
• Accepted
  2011