Lyme Disease and Hearing Loss

Question

Answer

The association between Lyme disease and hearing loss has been a subject of debate for quite some time. Recently, with the advent of more sophisticated diagnostic techniques (ie. Western blot analysis for Borelia burgdorferi antibodies) the link is becoming stronger.

Endolymphatic hydrops, typical of Meniere's Disease has been identified in a group of patients affected by Lyme disease (Selmani et al. 2002). Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) has also been shown to be associated with elevated Lyme titers in a small percentage of patients. This group had a 61% recovery rate when treated with steroids and tetracycline (Finizia et al. 2001). It was also shown that individuals with SSNHL had antibodies against Borelia that were 6x higher than in controls (Peltomaa et al. 2000).

As is often true in many case studies, statistical significance was not achieved in any of these studies.

Therefore, it may indeed be that Lyme disease is common, and hearing loss is common, and therefore -- occasionally the two will coexist, while actually being independent of each other.

Bio.
Brian Perry, MD
Ear Medical Group, San Antonio Texas.
(210)-614-6070

Dr. Perry completed his residency in Otorhinolaryngology at Duke University, and a fellowship in Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at The University of Iowa. He is currently in private practice in San Antonio, where he continues to publish on a variety of otologic topics.