Deafness ; Hearing Loss/etiology* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Meningitis, Cryptococcal/diagnosis*

The incidence of blast injury has increased recently. As the ear is the organ most sensitive to blast overpressure, the most frequent injuries seen after blast exposure are those affecting the ear. Blast overpressure affecting the ear results in sensorineural hearing loss, which is untreatable and often associated with a decline in the quality of life. Here, we review recent cases of blast-induced hearing dysfunction. The tympanic membrane is particularly sensitive to blast pressure waves, since such waves exert forces mainly at air-tissue interfaces within the body. However, treatment of tympanic membrane perforation caused by blast exposure is more difficult than that caused by other etiologies. Sensorineural hearing dysfunction after blast exposure is caused mainly by stereociliary bundle disruption on the outer hair cells. Also, a reduction in the numbers of synaptic ribbons in the inner hair cells and spiral ganglion cells is associated with hidden hearing loss, which is strongly associated with tinnitus or hyperacusis.
Blast Injuries/complications* ; Ear/injuries* ; Hearing Loss, Conductive/etiology* ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/etiology* ; Humans ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation/complications*

Action Potentials ; Animals ; Ear, Inner ; blood supply ; Facial Nerve ; physiopathology ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; Rabbits

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

Adult ; Cochlear Implantation ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; surgery ; Humans ; Meniere Disease ; complications ; surgery

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical presentation, diagnosis and therapy of syphilis with sensorineural deafness. METHOD: Three patients of syphilis with sensorineural deafness were analyzed including the clinical manifestation, serum and therapy response. RESULT: Three patients of syphilis with sensorineural deafness: 2 cases with rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) positive, 1 case with RPR negative and TPPA positive; 2 cases had been diagnosed with syphilis and treated once; 2 cases with sudden sensorineural deafness and tinnitus, 1 case with tinnitus and high-frequency hearing loss. All cases hadn't another identified cause of the hearing loss or tinnitus. Their hearing loss level weren't improved after therapy. CONCLUSION Sudden hearing loss or nervous tinnitus may be the clinical manifestations of syphilis with sensorineural deafness. It is easy to miss diagnosis in clinical work. Some lab examinations were necessary to diagnose the cases with the etiology unknown of hearing loss, tinnitus or nystagmic.
Adult ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Syphilis ; complications

INTRODUCTIONWe report a case of successful rehabilitation of hearing with a cochlear implant in a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who developed post-irradiation hearing loss following treatment.

CLINICAL PICTUREA 55-year-old Chinese lady suffered from radiation-induced sensorineural hearing loss due to treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Audiological tests and imaging studies showed an intact retrocochlear pathway.

TREATMENTCochlear implantation.

OUTCOMECochlear implant was done with successful rehabilitation of hearing until the time of this report.

CONCLUSIONSIf functionally active auditory fibres survive with no recurrent tumour, successful rehabilitation of post-irradiation induced sensorineural hearing loss is possible with a cochlear implant in a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Audiometry, Evoked Response ; Cochlear Implants ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; etiology ; rehabilitation ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; radiotherapy

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of meteorological factors on the onset of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Meteorological data from 2005 to 2011 were obtained from the web-based "Monthly Weather Reports of the Meteorological Administration" database. Patients with ISSHL who visited our hospital during this same period and presented the precise day on which hearing loss developed were included in this retrospective study. Twelve meteorological factors were analyzed between the days when ISSHL onset was observed as well as the days when ISSHL did not occur. The weather conditions occurring 1-7 days before ISSHL onset were also analyzed to assess any possible delayed effects of meteorological factors on the onset of ISSHL. RESULTS: During the study period, 607 patients were included for the study. Although mean and maximal wind velocities were higher for the days when ISSHL occurred than the days without ISSHL onset, after adjusting the value for multiple comparisons, we cannot find any significant relationship between any of meteorological factors and the onset of ISSHL. However, in analysis of time lag effect of the weather conditions, we found that there was still a significant difference in maximum wind speed on 5 days before ISSHL onset even after applying Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSION: The result of this study suggests that stronger wind speed may be related to the occurrence of ISSHL.
Adult ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/diagnosis/*etiology ; Hearing Loss, Sudden/diagnosis/*etiology ; Humans ; Male ; *Meteorological Concepts ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; *Wind

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between fibrinogen level and pathogenesis of sudden sensorineural hearing loss(SSHI.). METHOD: Fifty patients (55 ears) with SSHL within 7 days of the onset were studied: a control group was consist of 50 normal-hearing people who were individually matched on a pairwise basis according to the same gender and age. Both the patients and the normal people were tested for the parameters of hemorheology, blood biochemistry, whole blood cell count and clotting function. RESULT: Fibrinogen level and plasma viscosity in patients with SSHL were significantly higher than that in control subjects. Prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastic time were significantly less in the patients group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). There were statistical difference. The parameters of blood biochemistry, whole blood cell count and platelet adhesion test of two groups had no significant difference (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION Elevated plasma fibrinogen may be a major pathogenesis of SSHL. An increase in plasma fibrinogen level may lead to elevated plasma viscosity. All these may promote a prothrombin or hypercoagulable state and impair blood perfusion of cochlea.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Fibrinogen ; metabolism ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; blood ; etiology ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; blood ; etiology ; Hemorheology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

The prevalence of auditory neuropathy is not known, although the majority of cases are felt to lie within the population of neonatal intensive care unit graduates. We report three cases of auditory neuropathy, out of 211 children with sensorineural hearing loss, seen at our audiology clinic from April 1, 1999 to December 31, 2003. Two patients did not have a risk factor for hearing impairment. Screening policies based solely on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions testing will not detect auditory neuropathy effectively, and may falsely reassure parents and professionals unaware of this condition.
Auditory Pathways ; physiopathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cochlear Nerve ; physiopathology ; Hearing Disorders ; diagnosis ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors