Iron deficiency and hearing loss. Experimental study in growing rats.

Cochlear changes were studied in 141 growing rats raised on a basic iron-deficient diet for 7-100 days; 130 rats served as normal or chronic anemia controls. Electrophysiological findings showed that the incidence of an auditory threshold elevation of more than 15 dB was 31.85% in the iron-deficient rats, but it was unchanged in all the control animals. The main cochlear histopathological changes induced by iron deficiency were strial atrophy and reduction of spiral ganglion cells. It is concluded that the observed anomalies may be attributed solely to iron deficiency of the cochlear tissue.