Related Experiment Videos
[Cochlear hearing loss following Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection]
B Schönweiler1, M Held, R Schönweiler
1Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Essen.
Background:
A sudden unilateral hearing loss in childhood is commonly regarded as an unusual event.
Case-Report:
In this paper, we report of a 10 year old girl suffering from a unilateral right-sided sudden hearing loss following an acute infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is also rarely observed. Maximum hearing loss was estimated around 30 dB (0.25-6 kHz), which resolved after infusions using plasma expanders. Both transitory and distortion product otoacoustic emissions remained absent, while latencies of acoustically evoked potentials were normal.
Discussion:
This suggests a damage of outer hair cell function as an explanation for the observed hearing loss. The coincidence of two rare events for children such as a spontaneous sudden unilateral hearing loss combined with an infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae gives rise to the hypothesis of a causal relationship that is discussed according to the literature.