Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing loss in which the root cause lies in the vestibulocochlear nerve (Cranial nerve VIII), the inner ear, or central processing centers of the brain.
The Weber test, in which a tuning fork is touched to the head, localizes to the normal ear in people with this condition. The Rinne test, which tests air conduction vs. bone conduction is positive (normal), though both bone and air conduction are reduced equally. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
Sabinas brittle hair...
Saccharopinuria
Sacral agenesis
Saethre-Chotzen syndrome
Salla disease
Salmonellosis
Sandhoff disease
Sanfilippo syndrome
Sarcoidosis
Say Meyer syndrome
Scabies
Scabiophobia
Scarlet fever
Schamberg disease...
Schistosomiasis
Schizencephaly
Schizophrenia
Schmitt Gillenwater Kelly...
Sciatica
Scimitar syndrome
Sciophobia
Scleroderma
Scrapie
Scurvy
Selachophobia
Selective mutism
Seminoma
Sensorineural hearing loss
Seplophobia
Sepsis
Septo-optic dysplasia
Serum sickness
Severe acute respiratory...
Severe combined...
Sezary syndrome
Sheehan syndrome
Shigellosis
Shingles
Shock
Short bowel syndrome
Short QT syndrome
Shprintzen syndrome
Shulman-Upshaw syndrome
Shwachman syndrome
Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
Shy-Drager syndrome
Sialidosis
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Siderosis
Silicosis
Silver-Russell dwarfism
Sipple syndrome
Sirenomelia
Sjogren's syndrome
Sly syndrome
Smallpox
Smith-Magenis Syndrome
Sociophobia
Soft tissue sarcoma
Somniphobia
Sotos syndrome
Spasmodic dysphonia
Spasmodic torticollis
Spherocytosis
Sphingolipidosis
Spinal cord injury
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal shock
Spinal stenosis
Spinocerebellar ataxia
Splenic-flexure syndrome
Splenomegaly
Spondylitis
Spondyloepiphyseal...
Spondylometaphyseal...
Sporotrichosis
Squamous cell carcinoma
St. Anthony's fire
Stein-Leventhal syndrome
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Stickler syndrome
Stiff man syndrome
Still's disease
Stomach cancer
Stomatitis
Strabismus
Strep throat
Strongyloidiasis
Strumpell-lorrain disease
Sturge-Weber syndrome
Subacute sclerosing...
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sugarman syndrome
Sweet syndrome
Swimmer's ear
Swyer syndrome
Sydenham's chorea
Syncope
Syndactyly
Syndrome X
Synovial osteochondromatosis
Synovial sarcoma
Synovitis
Syphilis
Syringomas
Syringomyelia
Systemic carnitine...
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Systemic mastocytosis
Systemic sclerosis
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an otologic emergency, and must be treated with a high dose of steroids.

Differential diagnosis

Sensorineural hearing loss may be congenital or acquired.

Congenital

  • lack of development (aplasia) of the cochlea
  • Chromosomal syndromes (rare)
  • Congenital cholesteatoma - squamous epithelium from the ear canal invades the middle ear, which is normally covered by respiratory epithelium. The squamous epithelium behaves like an invasive tumour and destroys middle ear structures if not removed
  • Delayed familial progressive

Acquired

  • Inflammatory
    • Suppurative labyrinthitis
    • Meningitis
    • Mumps
    • Measles
    • Viral
    • Syphilis
  • Ototoxic drugs
    • Aminoglycosides (most common cause; e.g., tobramycin)
    • Loop diuretics (e.g., Furosemide)
    • Anti-Metabolites (e.g., Methotrexate)
    • Salicylates (e.g., Aspirin)
  • Physical trauma - either due to a fracture of the temporal bone affecting the cochlea and middle ear, or a shearing injury affecting cranial nerve VIII.
  • Noise-induced - prolonged exposure to loud noises (>90dB) causes hearing loss which begins at 4000Hz (high frequency). The normal hearing range is from 125 Hz to 8,000 Hz.
  • Presbyacusis - age-related hearing loss that occurs in the high frequency range (4000Hz to 8000Hz).
  • Sudden hearing loss
    • Idiopathic
    • Vascular ischemia of the inner ear or CN 8
    • Perilymph fistula, usually due to a rupture of the round or oval windows and the leakage of perilymph. The patient will most likely also experience vertigo or imbalance. A history of an event that increased intracranial pressure or caused trauma is usually present).
  • Autoimmune - a prompt injection of steroids into ear is necessary.
  • Cerebellopontine angle tumour (junction of the pons and cerebellum) (the cerebellopontine angle is the exit site of both CN7 and CN8. Patients with these tumours often have signs and symptoms corresponding to compression of both nerves)
    • Acoustic neuroma (Vestibular schwannoma) - this is a schwannoma (benign neoplasm of Schwann cells)
    • Meningioma - benign tumour of the pia and arachnoid maters
  • Meniere's disease - causes sensorineural hearing loss in the low frequency range (125 Hz to 1000 Hz). Meniere's disesase is characterized by sudden attacks of vertigo lasting minutes to hours preceded by tinnitus, aural fullness, and fluctuating hearing loss.


Table 1. A table comparing sensorineural to conductive hearing loss

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Congenital sensorineural hearing loss: Mondini's deformity
From Ear, Nose & Throat Journal, 4/1/01 by Enrique Palacios

In the literature, the term Mondini's deformity describes virtually any malformation of the bony labyrinth short of complete aplasia. Mondini described this anomaly in cases of congenital deafness in which the cochlea was dilated and contained only one to one and a half turns. [1,2] Should inner ear development be interrupted between the fourth and fifth weeks of gestation---after differentiation of the auditory placode into the otocyst, but before division of the latter into the primordium of the cochlea, vestibule, and semicircular canals--a "common cavity" forms that has no internal architecture (figure). [2] In these cases, hearing loss is usually profound.

References

(1.) Jackler RK, Luxford WM, House WF. Congenital malformations of the inner ear: A classification based on embryogenesis. Laryngoscope 1987;97(Suppl 40):2-14.

(2.) Swartz JD, Harnsberger HR. The otic capsule and otodystrophies. In: Swartz JD, Harnsberger HR. Imaging of the Temporal Bone. 2nd ed. New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, 1992:192-246.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Medquest Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

Return to Sensorineural hearing loss
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay