Objectives: This study aims to test the hypothesis that gallstone disease (GSD) is a risk factor for the development of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Research has shown risks of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in patients with GSD; however, well-conducted English studies on the association between GSD and the development of ISSNHL are lacking.Design and setting: Retrospective cohort study using the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database.Participants: We compared 26 449 patients diagnosed with GSD between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2007, with 52 898 age-matched, gender-matched and comorbidities propensity scores-matched controls.Outcome measured: We followed each patient until the end of 2011 and evaluated the incidence of ISSNHL for at least 4 years after the initial GSD diagnosis.Results: The incidence of ISSNHL was 1.42 times higher in the GS cohort than in the non-GS cohort (9.27 vs 6.52/10 000 person-years). Using Cox proportional hazard regressions, the adjusted HR was 1.44 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.74). In the cohort of patients with GSD who needed a cholecystectomy, 37 patients suffered from ISSNHL. Among those patients, 31 (83.7%) patients sustained ISSNHL before cholecystectomy and 6 (16.2%) patients sustained ISSNHL after cholecystectomy.Conclusions: A diagnosis of GSD may be an independent risk for ISSNHL. This finding suggests that an underlying vascular and inflammatory mechanism may contribute to the development of ISSNHL. Physicians may want to counsel patients with GSD to seek medical attention if they have hearing impairments, because patients may be at an increased risk of developing ISSNHL.
