The hearing of the patients treated with hemodialysis: a long term follow-up study.

Sensorineural hearing loss is frequently found in the patients under the treatment with hemodialysis, but the responsible etiological factor(s) still remains controversial. The purpose of the present study was to determine by a long term follow-up study whether hemodialysis per se or other factors induce sensorineural hearing loss. Thirty-seven patients with the observation periods of 4 years or longer were selected for the analysis. Hearing tests were performed soon after the initiation of hemodialysis and every 3 to 12 months thereafter. Significant hearing loss was found in 16 cases (31 ears) at the first test. Although 3 cases (5 ears) of the initially normal group and one case (2 ears) of the group with already existing hearing loss exhibited significant hearing loss, the change in the hearing level was quite minimal in remaining 67 ears during the observation period. Although the cochlea in patients under the treatment with hemodialysis is susceptible to various insults, we conclude that hemodialysis per se does no harm to the cochlea and the hearing can be maintained at the pre-hemodialysis level in the majority of the cases.