Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T15:44:08.211Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Labyrinthine involvement in Behçet's syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

L. Pollak
Affiliation:
Department of Neuro-Otology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
L. M. Luxon
Affiliation:
Department of Neuro-Otology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
D. O. Haskard
Affiliation:
The Cardiovascular Medicine Unit, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.

Abstract

We report the neuro-otological findings in 26 consecutive patients with definite and probable Behçet's syndrome unselected for audiovestibular complaints. Auditory and/or vestibular abnormalities were found in 19 (73 per cent) patients, with auditory involvement in 14 (54 per cent) and vestibular in 10 (38.5 per cent) of patients. Peripheral involvement was more common than central involvement for both auditory and vestibular lesions. Bilateral cochlear hearing impairment was the most common audiological finding, whereas unilateral peripheral dysfunction was the prevailing vestibular abnormality. No correlation has been found between audiovestibular lesions and other organ lesions, disease duration or age or sex of the patients. Moreover, there was a lack of interdependence between cochlear and vestibular labyrinthine lesions. We conclude that a full neuro-otological assessment in patients under investigation for Behçet's syndrome may reveal labyrinth involvement in a substantial proportion of patients. In view of the absence of a specific diagnostic test for Behçet's syndrome, audiovestibular lesions may provide further diagnostic support for this disorder.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)