• Lucas Pinto Mielle, Maria Vanderléia Araujo Maximiano, Ivone Ferreira Neves-Lobo, Liliane Aparecida Fagundes Silva, Alessandra C Goulart, Carla Romagnolli, Gerson Sobrinho Salvador de Oliveira, Alessandra Giannella Samelli, and Carla Gentile Matas.
• Department of Physical Therapy, Speech-language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: lucas.mielle@fm.usp.br.
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2024 Jan 1; 79: 100472100472.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the peripheral and central auditory pathways in adult individuals after COVID-19 infection.MethodA total of 44 individuals aged between 19 and 58 years, of both genders, post-COVID-19 infection, confirmed by serological tests, with no previous hearing complaints and no risk factors for hearing loss, were assessed. All the participants underwent the following procedures: pure tone audiometry, logoaudiometry, immitanciometry, and Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEP), in addition to answering a questionnaire about auditory symptoms.ResultsThirteen individuals (29.5 %) had some hearing threshold impairment, mainly sensorineural hearing loss. In the BAEP, 18 individuals (40.9 %) presented longer latencies, mainly in waves III and V. According to the questionnaire answers, 3 individuals (9.1 %) reported worsened hearing and 7 (15.9 %) tinnitus that emerged after the infection. As for the use of ototoxic drugs during treatment, 7 individuals (15.9 %) reported their use, of which 5 showed abnormalities in peripheral and/or central auditory assessments.ConclusionConsidering the self-reported hearing complaints after COVID-19 infection and the high rate of abnormalities found in both peripheral and central audiological assessments, it is suggested that the new COVID-19 may compromise the auditory system. Due to the many variables involved in this study, the results should be considered with caution. However, it is essential that audiological evaluations are carried out on post-COVID-19 patients in order to assess the effects of the infection in the short, medium, and long term. Future longitudinal investigations are important for a better understanding of the auditory consequences of COVID-19.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U.

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