Pathology of vascular sensorineural hearing impairment

Circulatory disorders, which are well documented in most parts of the human body, are not well documented in the inner ear, although they are expected to occur. It has been previously shown that experimental occlusion of the labyrinthine artery in animals results in severe degenerative changes, fibrosis, and new bone formation in the cochlea. Accordingly, this paper presents presumptive evidence that depriving the human cochlea of its blood supply after surgical removal of an acoustic tumor results in severe degenerative changes that progress to total ossification of the cochlear spaces. This paper also discusses similar changes seen in temporal bones of two patients with sudden sensorineural hearing impairment. Based on these observations, the author concludes that occlusive arterial disease, whether thrombotic, embolic, or spastic, plays a role in some sudden sensorineural hearing losses. Cochlea ossification, detected by polytomography, suggests a vascular etiology of the hearing impairment. Treatment with vasodilator drugs and anticoagulants is justified in these cases until a better diagnostic protocol is developed to eliminate other causes.