2021 Volume 49 Issue 6 Pages 453-457
We herein report a rare case of improvement of unilateral sensorineural hearing loss after endovascular treatment for symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis. A 69-year-old man was admitted to our institution because of gait disturbance, dizziness, and hearing loss on the left ear. Magnetic resonance imaging (MR) showed multiple infarcts in the cerebellum and brain stem due to severe left vertebral artery stenosis. Although he received intensive medical treatment, his condition continued to worsen, and so a percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was performed. Symptoms including hearing loss improved after PTA.
Ischemic disease involving the vertebrobasilar artery can cause hearing loss due to hindered blood flow to the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA), and we considered that revascularization procedures, such as PTA, can potentially be useful in reversing such conditions.
