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Sensorineural hearing loss in patients with large vestibular aqueduct
Author(s) -
Okumura Tomoko,
Takahashi Haruo,
Honjo Iwao,
Mitamura Keiko,
Takagi Akira
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-199503000-00012
Subject(s) - vestibular aqueduct , audiology , vestibule , medicine , cochlea , sensorineural hearing loss , etiology , hearing loss , vestibular system , pathology
In examining 181 patients (327 ears) with sensorineural hearing loss of unknown etiology and 25 people (50 ears) with normal hearing by high‐resolution computed tomography (CT), the image of the large vestibular aqueduct (VA) was defined as being a visible large aperture (≥4 mm), and small distance between vestibule and traceable part of the VA nearest to the vestibule (≥1 mm). The large VA was found in 13 patients (23 ears, 7.0%); it was relatively frequent following hypoplastic cochlea (33 ears, 10.1%) in all the inner ear anomalies detected. In patients with large VA, high‐frequency hearing was affected more than low frequency, and history of sudden hearing loss was observed frequently (61% of ears with large VA), which was found to be triggered by characteristic episodes such as minor head trauma, etc. Those clinical features were observed more in those without cochlear anomaly than in those accompanying cochlear anomaly. Pathogenesis of sensorineural hearing loss and characteristic fluctuation of hearing in those patients are discussed.