Middle ear transmittance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

• Grant number: 13/19265-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: January 02, 2014
• End date: April 01, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Renata Mota Mamede Carvallo
• Grantee: Bruna Carla Cibin
• Supervisor: Navid Shahnaz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of British Columbia, Vancouver (UBC), Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/07787-3 - Wide band reflectance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, BP.MS

Abstract

The incudomalleolar and incudostapedial joints are true diarthroses and, therefore, may be subject to the same rheumatic lesions as other articulations in the body. Research studies have been undertaken to discover the existence of typical inflammatory alterations in the middle ear joints and their relationships with functional audiological, In patients with RA, both sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and conductive hearing loss (CHL) have been reported, but the results of most studies are not in agreement. RA could affect hearing via a number of different putative mechanisms. Aim: Describe the middle ear acoustic transmittance measures in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This research will be consist of 20 patients, of both genders, ranging in age from 25 to 50 years old. Inclusion criteria: patients with confirmed rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Exclusion criteria: patients with noise labor expose and previous audiological diagnosis that results in hearing impairment. Instrumentation: GSI 61 Grason Stadler audiometer. MADSEN OTOflex 100 middle ear analyzer, 226Hz probe tone. MEPA3 - Middle-Ear Power Analysis - Mimosa. Results: The variables will be analyzed statistically to compare procedures and tested ear. For all analyzes will be adopted an ± level of 0.05 to reject the null hypothesis. (AU)