Sudden deafness syndrome: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

As a clinical phenomenon, this syndrome has been described by many authors. The absence of a clear etiological cause of this sudden one- or two-sided deafness has caused much debate among audiologists, which, however, has not led to any results. The occurrence of this syndrome is associated with cooling or overheating, emotional stress or significant physical effort, allergies, latent forms of neuritis of the auditory nerve, vertebrogenic processes, but the true cause of this disease has not yet been established.

The pathogenesis of sudden deafness syndrome is in all cases associated with spasm of the artery supplying blood to the cochlea. This spasm provokes paresis and dilation of the smallest veins of the cochlea, rapidly increasing hydrops of the cochlear endolymphatic spaces, which leads to hypoxia and then to the death of hair cells. In the case of allergic genesis, extensive paresis of the cochlear vessels with rapidly increasing transudation, massive local hydrops and a sharp increase in intracochlear pressure may occur. It is possible that the development of this syndrome is facilitated by certain vascular anomalies in the inner ear, which, existing in a latent form, manifest themselves when new pathogenetic conditions arise.

Symptoms of sudden deafness syndrome. Deafness occurs suddenly in the complete health without any obvious cause, can be unilateral or bilateral, total or significant. In many cases, hearing loss is accompanied by a strong tinnitus in one or both ears or in the head without a clear localization, in rare cases, a quickly passing, within a few minutes, slight dizziness occurs, which never recurrs. The tinnitus gradually subsides, but does not completely disappear. In most cases, the hearing loss that has arisen is irreversible, but sometimes hearing is suddenly restored completely or partially. Attacks of hearing loss can recur repeatedly, and with each new attack the degree of hearing loss increases. Given the recurring attacks of deafness and the undetected etiology of this syndrome, it can be assumed that it is a kind of "purely cochlear" form of Meniere-like syndrome, caused only by hydrops of the cochlea.

Treatment of sudden deafness syndrome should be long-term and include the same measures as treatment for Meniere's disease, vertebrogenic labyrinthine disorders, and in some cases, anti-allergic measures. When this syndrome occurs, it is necessary to carefully examine the patient for possible detection of the source of pathological reflexes. Great importance should be given to the patient's emotional peace, which is potentiated by sedatives and tranquilizers.