OBJECTIVES: Arterial hypertension negatively influences the peripheral auditory system, causing sensorineural hearing loss. Much less is known about the detrimental effects of hypertension on the central auditory functions. METHODS: We tested 32 arterial hypertension patients and 32 age and sex-matched healthy volunteers with the expanded tonal audiometry (0.125-12.5 kHz), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (0.75-8 kHz), horizontal minimum audible angle test for eight azimuths with binaural stimulation and the random gap detection test. RESULTS: Peripheral hearing of the hypertensive patients was impaired in comparison with the controls within all audiometric frequencies (0.125-12.5 kHz) and within specific groups of frequencies. Distortion product otoacoustic emission results were significantly lower for frequencies 4 (P = 0.04) and 6 kHz (P < 0.001). The sound localization ability in the horizontal minimum audible angle test was significantly worse in the hypertensive patients in the 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and 270° azimuth when the interaural pure tone average (0.5-1-2 kHz) was set less than 20 dB hearing level (P < 0.05), and in the 0°, 90°, 225°, and 270°azimuth when the binaural pure tone average (0.5-1-2 kHz) was set 20 dB or less hearing level (P < 0.05). Gap detection thresholds in the random gap detection test did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Arterial hypertension is independently related to the damage of the peripheral part of the auditory system resulting in high-frequency hearing loss. Hypertensive disturbances of central auditory processing are more discrete and concern the spatial hearing resolution.

Department of Otolaryngology bDepartment of Neurology of Adults cDepartment of Hypertension and Diabetology dDepartment of Neurosurgery Medical University of Gdańsk Gdańsk Poland eDepartment of Cardiovascular Diseases International Clinical Research Center St Anne's University Hospital in Brno Brno Czech Republic

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