Cardiopulmonary bypass surgery is one of the most common major problems in many hospitals and the benefits of this surgery are now accepted. The majority of these patients have extensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and the surgery carries a risk. About 50% of these patients have significant surgical complications, 2-5% have complications in the central nervous system and 0.1% have hearing loss. Rare instances of unilateral hearing loss with incomplete recovery in these patients have been reported and attributed to either embolism or perfusion failure. In 1971, Arenberg et al., for the first time, reported on a 57 year old female who had a unilateral sudden hearing loss with some improvement in the early post-operative period. In 1975, Wright and Saunders reported on a 59 year old male, who had a sudden loss of hearing which did not improve. In 1981, Plasse et al,. reported seven cases, all with early post-operative hearing loss, four of whom improved some degree but none recovered completely. Shapiro et al. (1981) reported two cases of bilateral loss of hearing with no indication of improvement in hearing. Brownson et al. (1971), in a prospective study of 50 patients, found no significant changes in hearing following open heart surgery. The purpose of this paper is to present the consecutive audiological findings in a case with a sudden unilateral sensorineural hearing loss with subsequent complete recovery following an open heart surgery.
Audiometry, Pure-Tone ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass/adverse effects* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/etiology* ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age