Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Simple Surgical Induction of Conductive Hearing Loss with Verification Using Otoscope Visualization and Behavioral Clap Startle Response in Rat
06:27

Simple Surgical Induction of Conductive Hearing Loss with Verification Using Otoscope Visualization and Behavioral Clap Startle Response in Rat

Published on: October 26, 2019

See no evil, hear no evil…

Sarah Driscoll1, Ann P Murchison2, Jurij R Bilyk2

  • 1Wills Eye Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Survey of Ophthalmology
|August 6, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis caused cranial nerve palsies, including visual and hearing loss, in a 32-year-old woman. This rare condition presented as an infiltrative skull-base mass on MRI.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Neuro-oncology
  • Inflammatory diseases

Background:

  • Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis (IHP) is a rare, chronic inflammatory condition characterized by thickening of the dura mater.
  • It can mimic neoplastic or infectious processes, leading to diagnostic challenges.
  • Cranial nerve involvement is a significant manifestation of IHP.

Observation:

  • A 32-year-old woman presented with progressive right-sided visual loss, hearing loss, and diffuse headache.
  • Clinical examination revealed deficits in cranial nerves II (optic), V1/2 (trigeminal), and VIII (vestibulocochlear).
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated an infiltrative process at the skull base, involving the pachymeninges.

Findings:

  • Serological tests and histopathological examination of the affected meninges confirmed the diagnosis of idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.
  • The findings indicated a non-neoplastic, inflammatory etiology for the dural thickening and associated neuropathies.
  • The case highlights the diverse neurological presentations of IHP.

Implications:

  • This case underscores the importance of considering IHP in the differential diagnosis of skull-base masses and cranial neuropathies.
  • Accurate diagnosis of IHP is crucial for appropriate management and to avoid unnecessary aggressive treatments.
  • Further research into the pathogenesis and treatment of IHP is warranted.
Keywords:
MRIbiopsycorticosteroidscranial neuropathyhearing-lossidiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitisoptic neuropathyskull base

More Related Videos

Working with Auditory HEI-OC1 Cells08:56

Working with Auditory HEI-OC1 Cells

Published on: September 3, 2016

Setup and Execution Of the Blindfolded Code Training Exercise05:25

Setup and Execution Of the Blindfolded Code Training Exercise

Published on: March 29, 2019

Related Concept Videos

Hearing01:31

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.
Blinding01:11

Blinding

Blinding is a commonly used method of not telling participants which treatment a subject is receiving. Blinding is a critical part of a randomized control trial or RCT. It reduces the bias that affects the results. In an RCT, blinding is used in the form of a placebo. A placebo effect occurs when untreated subjects falsely believe they have received the treatment and report improved symptoms. A placebo or a dummy treatment is administered to subjects to negate the bias caused by such an effect.
Blind Procedures02:07

Blind Procedures

Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which child was...
Perception of Sound Waves01:01

Perception of Sound Waves

The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Auditory Perception01:17

Auditory Perception

The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...
Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...