High-frequency hearing and reflex latency in patients with pigment disorder.

PURPOSE: To investigate the activities of inner ear melanin in patients with pigment variations and disorders. Our purpose was to find evidence on the effects of melanin-containing cells by measuring the high-frequency threshold and the latency of stapes reflex in patients with vitiligo.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with active vitiligo and 41 healthy subjects were included in this study. Pure tone thresholds were determined at frequencies between 250 and 16,000 Hz. Ipsilateral and contralateral stapes reflexes were measured at 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. After we compared the results in the control and vitiligo groups by using the Mann-Whitney U test for each frequency, we compared women and men separately to eliminate gender differences.

RESULTS: Pure tone thresholds of the vitiligo group were significantly lower than the control group at 4,000, 6,000, 8,000 and 10,000 Hz (P < .05). The statistically different thresholds were 8,000 and 10,000 Hz in women, compared with 4,000, 6,000, 8,000, 10,000, 12,500, and 16,000 Hz in men (P < 0.05). Reflex latencies for the two groups were not statistically different.

CONCLUSION: Vitiligo, which is a type of pigment disorder, seems to be an effective factor in hearing loss, and men are more susceptible to it than women. The mechanism for this condition might be the absence of the preventive function of melanin-containing cells in the inner ear.