Assessment of auditory functions in chronic hepatitis C patients treated by sofosbuvir

Abstract Objective Evaluating the auditory function in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with sofosbuvir and ribavirin. Methods This study involved 80 patients with chronic hepatitis C who agreed to receive sofosbuvir and ribavirin. All participants were subjected to baseline otological and audiological assessment just before treatment. The audiological assessment included standard pure tone audiometry, extended high-frequency audiometry, immitancemetry and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) (transient and distortion‏ product). According to baseline hearing threshold measurements, the study population was divided into 2 groups. Group 1 included 42 patients with normal hearing sensitivity (250–8000 Hz), and Group 2 included 38 patients with sensorineural hearing loss. After 24 weeks of therapy, otological and audiological assessments were repeated and compared between the two groups and before and after therapy. Results Post-treatment hearing threshold evaluation showed no significant difference from pretreatment evaluation at all tested frequencies. There was no statistically significant difference between pre and post-treatment otoacoustic emissions results. Conclusion Therapy with sofosbuvir and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C has no noticeable effects on cochlear functions.