Abstract
We studied temporal bone pathology in 4 cases of leukemia with a hearing loss confirmed by pure tone audiometry. They included severe bilateral sudden deafness in 2 cases, slight mixed hearing loss in 1 case, and slight bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in 1 case. Leukemic changes were observed in the temporal bones of all cases. There were leukemic infiltration and bleeding from the internal auditory meatus to the modiolus and cochlea in 2 cases of sudden deafness. Leukemic infiltration to the external auditory meatus and bleeding from the internal auditory meatus to the cochlea seemed to be the cause of hearing loss in the case of mixed deafness. No leukemic change except cellular infiltration into the mastoid, and exudate in the tympanic cavity were observed in the case of sensorineural hearing loss. Our findings show that any leukemic lesions could occur at any sites of temporal bones. Corresponding to the particular sites of lesions, it seems to cause any types of hearing impairment, such as conductive, mixed or sensorineural hearing loss.
