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Audiovestibular Manifestations in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis – A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. The disease primarily affects the axial skeleton and its cause is unknown; it is known to affect up to 1% of the population. The onset is usually in the 30s and affects men three times more often than women. Autoimmune etiology characterized by inflammation is the suspected etiology. AS typically affects the spine and sacroiliac joints. Peripheral joints are the other sides of the skeleton involvement. Inflammation of the joints leads to synovitis, fusion, and a tendency to ankylosis. Osteoporosis and vertebral fractures can also be seen. This rheumatic disease also involves extraskeletal organs, such as the eyes, heart, lungs, and gut, along with manifestations such as anterior uveitis, cardiac conduction defect, aortic valve incompetence, inflammatory bowel disease, and renal and lung abnormalities. The diagnosis depends on the following New York criteria: the presence of back pain (because of the inflammation of the spine and sacroiliac joints), the restriction of lumbar flexion and chest expansion, and radiological findings of sacroiliitis and the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27 positivity. The disease is strongly associated with the HLA B27. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common form of cochleovestibular impairment of AS; however, the cause of SNHL still remains unknown.

In this report, a patient who has AS with SNHL was presented and the literature of cochleovestibular impairment in AS was discussed.

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