Abstract
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is commonly knwon as inner ear disease, although little is known about its cause in most cases. We evaluated 383 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In 8.1% of the patients, MRI examination revealed some abnormal findings that may be associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss: acoustic tumor was noted in 1%, abnormality of the vertebral-basilar artery in 1%, and infarction around the brainstem in 0.8%. In these cases, using MRI at an early stage of examination, we can establish the correct diagnosis of and treatment for hearing loss.
