Audiological and vestibular evaluations in vitiligo patients

Alessandra  Manno; Annalisa Pace; Giannicola Iannella; Valeria Rossetti; Roberta Polimeni; Alessandro  Milani; Salvatore  Cocuzza; Antonino Maniaci; Giuseppe Magliulo

doi:10.17305/bjbms.2021.5703

Authors

Alessandra Manno Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Annalisa Pace Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6744-5280
Giannicola Iannella Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1781-2809
Valeria Rossetti Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3956-2831
Roberta Polimeni Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4653-2366
Alessandro Milani Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5769-7000
Salvatore Cocuzza Department of Otolaryngology , University of Catania, Catania, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6135-0958
Antonino Maniaci Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1251-0185
Giuseppe Magliulo Organi di Senso Department, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3052-1969

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17305/bjbms.2021.5703

Keywords:

VEMPs, vitiligo, vestibular system, hearing loss, otic melanocytes

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate audiological abnormalities and potential vestibular injury in a sample of vitiligo subjects. Thirty-five patients with non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) were enrolled in the study. They underwent pure tonal audiometry (PTA), vestibular Fitzgerald-Hallpike caloric test, C-VEM, and O-VEMP testing. The χ2 test and multiple regression analysis were performed. At PTA, 69% of patients presented with bilateral hearing loss, 8% monaural hearing loss, and 23% normal values. Bilateral caloric stimulations were performed and demonstrated that 14% of patients had a monolateral and 9% had a bilateral pathological response. VEMPs analysis showed that 20% of patients had no O-VEMPs response and 3% had no C-VEMPs response. Comparison between the normal values of healthy subjects and NSV patients showed an alteration of VEMPs in 44%. Multiple regression showed no statistical differences. We propose a specific diagnostic protocol employing PTA, bithermal caloric tests, C-VEMP, and O-VEMP testing to evaluate audio-vestibular damage. Our data were concordant with the anatomic-physiological melanocytic distribution and their possible degeneration linked with NSV.