DEAFNESS FOLLOWING MENINGITIS REPORT OF FIVE CASES

Abstract

In recent practice, the authors experienced five cases of deafness following meningitis. Analysis of these cases with reference to foreign literature has led the authors to point out several features which could be stressed. Deafness following meningitis, while it is frequently encountered in children, occurs also in adults particularly of middle and advanced ages. Peripheral vestibular disturbance often appears to accompany deafness. Deafness is usually bilateral and can often be quite severe, but it sometimes shows asymmetrical involvement. In some cases, word discrimination becomes poor compared with the results of pure tone audiometry. This mightindicate possibly the concomitant retrocochlear lesion in addition to the lesion in the cochleawhich is usually due to labyrinthitis. Finally, possible administration of ototoxic drugs for the treatment of meningitis should be considered.