Ischemia as a potential etiologic factor in idiopathic unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss: Analysis of posterior circulation arteries.

Ischemia as a potential etiologic factor in idiopathic unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss: Analysis of posterior circulation arteries. Hear Res. 2015 Sep 11; Authors: Kim C, Sohn JH, Jang MU, Hong SK, Lee JS, Kim HJ, Choi HC, Lee JH Abstract The association between idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and the radiologic characteristics of the vertebrobasilar artery is unclear. We hypothesized that the degree and direction of vertebrobasilar artery curvature in the posterior circulation contribute to the occurrence of ISSNHL. We consecutively enrolled patients diagnosed with unilateral ISSNHL in two tertiary hospitals. Magnetic resonance images were performed in all patients to exclude specific causes of ISSNHL, such as vestibular schwannoma, chronic mastoiditis, and anterior inferior cerebellar artery infarct. We measured the following parameters of posterior circulation: vertebral and basilar artery diameter, the degree of basilar artery curvature (modified smoker criteria), and vertebral artery dominance. Pure tone audiometries were performed at admission and again 1 week and 3 months later. A total of 121 ISSNHL patients (mean age, 46.0 ±17.3 years; 48.8% male) were included in these analyses. The proportion of patients with the left side hearing loss was larger than the proportion with the right side hearing loss (left, 57.9%; right, 42.1%). The majority of patients were characterized by a left dominan...
Source: Hearing Research - Category: Audiology Authors: Tags: Hear Res Source Type: research