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CC BY 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29(04): s00451809648
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809648
Original Research

Audiological Profile of Patients with Vitiligo

Authors

  • Inna Fayaz 

    1   Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat – Head and Neck Surgery, Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

  • Neha Saraf

    2   Department of Anatomy, Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) Medical College, Dr. Rustom Narsi Cooper Municipal General Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

  • Gopika Kalsotra

    1   Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat – Head and Neck Surgery, Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

  • Parmod Kalsotra

    1   Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat – Head and Neck Surgery, Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

  • Vikas Mahajan

    3   Department of Pediatrics, Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS), Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

  • Samreen Dilawar

    4   Department of Dermatology, Sri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

  • Sahil Kalsotra

    5   Emergency Department, Shri Durga Dass Memorial (SDDM) Hospital, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private, or non-profit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Introduction

Vitiligo is one of the most common causes of hypopigmentation; it occurs when melanin production is impaired due to the loss of melanocytes, which are present throughout the skin, in the epidermis, and in hair follicles, and are also seen in the mucosa, uvea, and several structures of the inner ear. Scientists have investigated the association between vitiligo and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL); some believe there is a connection, while others disagree.

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between vitiligo and SNHL.

Methods

The present observational study was conducted from February 2023 to January 2024. A total of 54 patients with clinically diagnosed vitiligo were assessed for hearing impairment. Simultaneously, 50 healthy volunteers were included as a control group, and the data was analyzed to assess any potential association between vitiligo and SNHL.

Results

The mean age of the control group was of 37.5(± 10) years, and that of the patients with vitiligo was of 38.8(± 11) years, and the male-to-female ratio was of 1:1. We observed SNHL in 32 (59.3%) patients with vitiligo, and those with vitiligo vulgaris were the most afflicted. The hearing loss was mild in 2 ears (3.1%), moderate in 24 (37.5%), and severe in 29 (45.3%), with 29 patients belonging to the group with high frequency hearing loss.

Conclusion

Based on the findings; it is imperative that patients with vitiligo undergo routine auditory function assessments to facilitate the early detection of SNHL.

Keywords

vitiligo - SNHL - audiometry - ABR

Ethical Approval

The present study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the guidelines set out by the institutional Clinical Research and Ethics Committee.


Authors' Contributions

IF: conceptualization, study design, data collection, formal analysis, data interpretation, writing – original draft, project administration; NS, GK: data collection, data organization, data curation; PK, VM: methodology, supervision, writing – review & editing; SD, SK: data interpretation, visualization, writing – review & editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.


Data Availability Statement

Data supporting the results of this study are available upon a reasonable request from the corresponding author.




Publication History

Received: 07 July 2024

Accepted: 11 March 2025

Article published online:
16 October 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Inna Fayaz, Neha Saraf, Gopika Kalsotra, Parmod Kalsotra, Vikas Mahajan, Samreen Dilawar, Sahil Kalsotra. Audiological Profile of Patients with Vitiligo. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29: s00451809648.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809648