الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Interferons (IFNs) are cytokines produced by lymphocytes and macrophages whose antiviral, anti-tumoral and immunomodulatory properties are increasingly exploited for therapeutic purposes. . This study aimed to explore the cochlear integrity in patients with HCV virus under treatment with pegylated interferon once \week and ribavirin 1200 mg\day. This study was carried out on 70 chronic hepatitis c patients treated with combined therapy (INF+ribavirin). Mean age of them was 30.2 (±5.3) years. They were 43 (61.4%) males and 27 (38.6%) females. All ears in the study had excellent speech discrimination, and there were no statistically significant differences between pre treatment and post treatment as regards speech discrimination. This study reflects an ototoxic effect of (INF +ribavirin) combined therapy on hearing, starting with tinnitus complaint; which correlated with a shift in hearing thresholds mainly at high frequencies, in both PTA and TEOAE. |