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HTTPS://WWW.AHAJOURNALS.ORG/DOI/10.1161/CIRC.126.SUPPL_21.A15001
EPIDEMIOLOGY, POPULATION & BIG DATA
SESSION TITLE: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POPULATION STUDIES: BLOOD PRESSURE AND HYPERTENSION
Abstract 19010: Strial Pattern Hearing Loss is Associated With Impaired Endothelial Function and Increased Carotid Intima-Media Thickness
Michael Widlansky, Lisa E Rein, Sergey Tarima, Christopher Mueller, Naomi M Hamburg, Ramachandran S Vasan, Gary F Mitchell and David R Friedland
Originally published 29 Mar 2018Circulation. 2016;134:A19010
Abstract
Introduction: The stria vascularis of the inner ear is exquisitely sensitive to impairment of blood flow and damage to this structure is associated with low frequency (LF) hearing loss. Strial pattern hearing loss is associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Whether strial pattern hearing loss is associated with systemic endothelial dysfunction and carotid intima-medial thickness (cIMT), both predictors of adverse cardiovascular events, is unknown.
Hypothesis: Strial pattern hearing loss will be associated with impairment of vascular endothelial function and increased cIMT.
Methods: Using audiogram and vascular function data collected from the Framingham Heart Study’s Offspring Cohort, we classified hearing patterns into 1 of 5 categories: normal (N=836), cochlear conductive(N=464), low sloping(N=208), sensorineural presbycusis(N=415), and strial type (N=200); and determined the association of hearing pattern with impaired brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD%- bottom quartile classified as impaired) by logistical regression analyses. Multivariable linear regression was performed to determine associations between hearing patterns and cIMT of the common carotid artery.
Results: Audiograms were available in 2123 participants with FMD% and 2040 with cIMT. Carotid IMT was found to be 16.6% greater in those with strial pattern compared to normal hearing (unadjusted P<0.001).
In univariate analyses, an abnormal audiogram pattern was significantly associated with impaired FMD% (P=0.008). A total of 9.4% of subjects had a strial pattern of hearing loss, including 10.3% (77/761) of those with impaired FMD% compared to 8.9% with preserved FMD%. Similarly, low sloping (11.8% vs. 8.7%) and sensorineural presbycusis (20.6% vs. 19.0%) hearing patterns were over-represented in subjects with im- paired FMD%. In multivariable models including age, sex, systolic blood pressure, BMI, heart rate, smok- ing, and dyslipidemia pattern was not independently associated with impaired FMD% or with cIMT.
Conclusions: Strial pattern hearing loss is associated with impaired vascular endothelial function and increased cIMT in unadjusted analyses. Patients presenting with hearing loss may have concomitant in- creased cardiovascular risk.
Footnotes
Author Disclosures: M. Widlansky: Research Grant; Significant; Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp, NHLBI. Other Research Support; Significant; Everist Health. L.E. Rein: None. S. Tarima: None. C. Mueller: None. N.M. Hamburg: None. R.S. Vasan: None. G.F. Mitchell: None. D.R. Friedland: None.