A Case of Acute Bilateral Retrocochlear Hearing Loss as an Initial Symptom of Unilateral Thalamic Hemorrhage.
- Author:
Min Joon PARK
1
;
Sung Won YOON
;
Kang Hyeon KIM
;
Young Jin KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords: Thalamus; Retrocochlear disease; Hearing loss; Speech discrimination tests
- MeSH: Aged; Audiometry; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gait; Hearing Loss; Hearing Loss, Bilateral; Hematoma; Hemorrhage*; Hospitalization; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Retrocochlear Diseases*; Speech Discrimination Tests; Speech Perception; Thalamus
- From:Korean Journal of Audiology 2014;18(2):80-84
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: A speech discrimination test is a test using a list of 25 phonetically balanced monosyllables. It is often overlooked but significant enough for pure tone audiometry. Many physicians have performed pure tone audiometry but without a speech discrimination test. A 73-year-old woman visited our clinic complaining of sudden bilateral hearing loss. Pure tone audiometry showed only bilateral high frequency loss. However, speech discrimination had decreased markedly. We decided to follow-up after 1 week of Ginexin-F(R) (ginkgo leaf extract) and Nafril(R) (nafronyl oxalate). She felt a gait disturbance within 2 days. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a left thalamic hemorrhage. After a 1 month hospitalization, the hematoma subsided, and speech discrimination recovered 3 months later. Acute hearing loss due to thalamic hemorrhage that recovered has never been reported. We report the first case of retrocochlear hearing loss that occurred with a thalamic hemorrhage in a patient who recovered.
