抄録
Seven patients (8 ears) with acute otitis media associated with transient sensorineural hearing loss were studied. The patients were 21 to 63 years old and complained of hearing loss following typical symptoms of acute otitis media such as otalgia and otorrhea. All ears demonstrated mixed hearing loss and all showed complete recovery. The serum antibody titer against mycoplasma was elevated in only one patient-the one with bilateral disease. Serologic examination in the other patients showed neither viral infection, such as influenza type A or type B, nor mycoplasma infection. However, all the episodes were preceded by or accompanied by an upper respiratory infection, and bullous myringitis or serous otorrhea was observed in the ears. These clinical signs suggested the presence of unidentified viral infection. The site of the lesion producing the sensorineural hearing loss seemed to be the cochlea because of the absence of abnormal findings in the auditory brainstem response and of the severe hearing loss primarily at 8kHz.
