The Effect of Cd4 Count Level on the Middle Ear Dynamics of Hiv Infected Patients

Abstract

Background: HIV infection, a multi systemic disease has been identified as one of the causes of hearing loss in man.
Objectives: To compare the effect of HIV infection on the middle ear dynamics of HIV infected and non-HIV infected individuals using tympanometry.
Design: A prospective cross sectional study Setting: HIV Clinic at University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in 2010.
Subjects: Tympanometry was done on adults (18-45year old) patients with confirmed retroviral disease (RVD) infection and confirmed non-HIV infected adults (18-45year old) as the control group. All the patients certified the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Main Outcome Measures: More women were found with HIV infection than men at a ratio of 1:3.7(men = 21% and females = 79%). There was preponderance of type “B” tympanogram among HIV-infected individuals.
Result: There was a significant correlation between CD4 cell count and type “B” tympanogram (P=0.03). The CD4 cell count measured severity of HIV infection while the type “B” tympanogram detected middle ear effusion.
Conclusions: Middle ear effusion is the genesis of middle ear pathology in HIV infected population.