1: Ear Hear. 2003 Dec;24(6):508-17. Related Articles, Links

Audiologic manifestations of patients with post-treatment Lyme disease
syndrome.

Shotland LI, Mastrioanni MA, Choo DL, Szymko-Bennett YM, Dally LG,
Pikus AT, Sledjeski K, Marques A.

Hearing Section, Neuro-Otology Branch, National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Larry.Shotland@med.va.gov

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterize auditory
function in patients diagnosed with post-treatment Lyme disease
syndrome (PTLDS). DESIGN: Eighteen patients with PTLDS were evaluated
and compared to a normal population. Evaluations consisted of pure tone
and speech thresholds, word recognition (WRS), acoustic immittance
battery, auditory brain stem response (ABR), and loudness discomfort
level (LDL). Both seropositive and seronegative patients were
evaluated. Audiologists were blinded to patient status. RESULTS: Forty
four percent of the patients had one or more abnormal pure tone
thresholds compared to gender- and age-adjusted norms. Thirty-one
percent showed abnormally reduced LDLs, and 17% had abnormal acoustic
reflexes at one or more frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: This paper catalogs
previously unstudied long-term auditory system sequelae resulting from
PTLDS. Our most significant finding was the dramatically reduced
loudness tolerance in the presence of either normal or minimally
impaired hearing. The clinician is encouraged to consider PTLDS when
confronted with these or similar findings in patients having history of
Borrelia burgdorferi infection and continued complaints.

PMID: 14663350 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]