The impact of white matter hyperintensities on speech perception
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The impact of white matter hyperintensities on speech perception Arianna Di Stadio 1 & Daniela Messineo 2 & Massimo Ralli 3 Giampietro Ricci 1 & Antonio Greco 3
&
Dalila Roccamatisi 4 & Angela Musacchio 3 &
Received: 29 November 2019 / Accepted: 11 February 2020 # Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia 2020
Abstract Background The presence of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) can impact on normal brain function by altering normal signal transmission and determining different symptoms. Aim To evaluate the relationship between the presence of brain WMHs and the scores of speech perception test (SPT) in a sample of normal-hearing patients under 70 years of age. Material and method Prospective study. One hundred eleven patients underwent audiological screening with pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry, speech perception testing (SPT), and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). T2 sequences were analyzed to identify the presence of WMH that, if identified, were scored using the Fazekas score. Statistical multiple regression analysis was performed to understand the relationship between PTA and SPT score; the Pearson's and Spearman's tests were used to evaluate the correlation between Fazekas scores and SPT. Chi-square test was used to analyze the difference between gender. Results The results of PTA were not predictive of the SPT score. A negative statistically significant correlation (Spearman's, p = 0.0001; Pearson's, p < 0.001) was identified between the Fazekas score and the results of SPT. No statistically significant differences were identified in the correlation of WMH and SPT between males and females. Conclusion Multiple WMHs in the brain can worsen word recognition in patients with normal auditory threshold; this may be related to the impact that these lesions have on the memory ability. Spread of lesions into the brain might reduce the brain capacity to remember words, despite the sound is correctly perceived by the ear. Keywords White matter lesion . White matter hyperintensities . Magnetic resonance imaging . Speech understanding . Aging . Gliosis
Introduction White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are a radiological finding that can be observed in different conditions such as vascular disease [1], Alzheimer disease (AD) [1], and multiple sclerosis (MS)[2]. In the past, the identification of WMHs in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of healthy patients was considered an accidental finding without clinical meaning [3]; today, * Arianna Di Stadio [email protected] 1
Otolaryngology department, University of Perugia, Piazza Menghini 1, Perugia, Italy
2
Radiology oncology and anatomopathological Department, University La Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy
3
Organ of sense department, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
4
Psychology Faculty, UTIU, Rome, Italy
the clinical relevance of these findings has been widely confirmed [4]. Several clinical studies identified a correlation between WMHs and specific diseases [1, 2, 4]. To better understand the role of this rad
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