Hearing complaints in HIV infection originate in the brain not the ear

Objective: Evidence suggests damage to brain auditory pathways, rather than inner ear damage, underlies the hearing difficulties HIV+ individuals report. But, antiretroviral therapy (ART) may affect the hearing system and also lead to hearing complaints. Design: Longitudinal study of HIV+ and HIV− individuals in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. A subset of this cohort started ART while in the study allowing the effects of ART to be studied directly....