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Updated: May 5, 2026

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Clinical features of rapidly progressive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
Ippei Kishimoto1, Hiroshi Yamazaki, Yasushi Naito
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital , Kobe.
Conclusion:
Rapidly progressive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) often develops as a symptom of intracranial diseases or systemic vasculitis. For early diagnosis and treatment of these potentially fatal diseases, a history of hearing deterioration within 2 months and associated symptoms may be important.
Objectives:
To reveal clinical features and causative diseases for rapidly progressive bilateral SNHL.
Methods:
The inclusion criterion was patients with bilateral progressive SNHL, who had experienced difficulty in daily conversation within 4 days to 1 year after the onset of hearing loss awareness. This study was a retrospective evaluation of 12 patients with rapidly progressive bilateral SNHL who visited our hospital between 2007 and 2011.
Results:
The causative disease for hearing loss was identified in 11 of 12 patients; intracranial lesions including nonbacterial meningitis, meningeal metastasis of lymphoma, and superficial siderosis in 4 patients, systemic vasculitis in 2, auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder in 1, and an isolated inner ear disorder in 4. Relatively rapid hearing deterioration within 2 months showed a significant association in six patients with an intracranial lesion or systemic vasculitis. Moreover, all these six patients complained of dizziness and/or non-cochleovestibular symptoms such as fever, headache, and/or altered mental state in addition to hearing loss.
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