Abstract
Harada's disease is regarded as an autoimmune disease of melanocytes, and it is well known that this disease causes inner ear dysfunctio in addition to uveitits, meningitis vitiligo alopecia etc. Otological and ophthalmological data for 63 ears of 34 patients thought to have had hearing impairment due to Harada's disease was analyzed. This data had been collected over the past 12 years. We compared the cases of Harada's disease with those due to sudden deafness which is also a sensorineural hearing disorder, especially in the aspects of treatment efficacy and prognosis. The following results were obtained: 1. Hearing impairment in Harada's disease is relatively mild, and tends to take the form of bilateral inner ear dysfunction.Even in cases of unnoticed hearing loss, considerable recovery of hearing can occur. 2. Recovery of hearing for Harada's disease is more gradual than that observed in sudden deafness. There is a good response with steroid treatment. 3. There is a clear mutual relationship between a prognosis of hearing impairment and visual impairment. 4. Otological examinations should always be performed, whether or not symptoms of hearing loss have been noticed. The results obtained through otological examinations will also aid in determining the appropriate opthalmological treatments.
