Vol.97 No.12
contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 97 No.12 December 2004
Long-term Follow up of Sensorineural Hearing
Loss Associated with Aortitis Syndrome
Hideki Matsuda, Takafumi Yoshida, Cho-ichi Horiuchi,
Daisuke Sano and Mamoru Tsukuda
(Yokohama City University School of Medicine)
A 22-year-old female, who had been diagnosed with aortitis syndrome five years earlier, consulted our clinic in May 1992 complaining of hearing loss and tinnitus in the right ear. Since the first onset of hearing loss, pure-tone audiogram was performed many times over a period of twelve years. Hearing fluctuated with no relation to the dose of steroid hormone during the initial three years, but hearing improvement thereafter depended on the dose of steroid hormone. During long-term follow-up, hearing disturbance gradually progressed. A tendency for CRP to become elevated and the sedimentation rate to increase just before hearing worsened was found. It appeared that hearing loss was one of the symptoms of aortitis syndrome. Cases of sensorineural hearing loss with aortitis syndrome should be followed for a long time, because in some cases previously reported hearing disturbance progresses.
Key words : long-term follow up, sensorineural hearing loss, aortitis syndrome