[Sudden deafness and cytomegalievirusinfection of adults (author's transl)]

By means of virologuc--serologic examination methods it was possible to find in four patients with sudden deafness a cytomegaloinfection, whereby the complement-fixation reaction was determined with the CMV antigen. With the usual therapeutical measures all cases with an, in part high-degree, labyrinthine deafness improved or normalized simultaneously with the serologically ascertained subsiding of the virus infection. The paper discusses the pathogenesis of viruscaused sudden deafness and tries to explain the benign nature of central complications in cytomegaloinfections.