PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ami Schattner
AU  - Doron Halperin
AU  - Dana Wolf
AU  - Oren Zimhony
TI  - Enteroviruses and sudden deafness
DP  - 2003 May 27
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 1421--1423
VI  - 168
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/168/11/1421.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/168/11/1421.full
SO  - CMAJ2003 May 27; 168
AB  - A YOUNG, HEALTHY MAN PRESENTED with sudden severe sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus. The results of the workup and neuroimaging were normal, as were the auditory brain stem responses. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy was associated with significant hearing improvement within 10 days. A history of a short self-limited febrile illness preceding admission (with headache, photophobia, myalgia and fatigue), a raised serum C-reactive protein level and transient leukopenia suggested an infectious cause. Lumbar puncture revealed a mononuclear pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid, with negative cultures but positive polymerase chain reaction test results for enterovirus, which was later cultured from the patient's stool. The patient's wife and baby had had a similar febrile illness without hearing loss 10 days earlier, and an outbreak of enterovirus meningitis was identified in the area, which was associated with familial clustering and echovirus serotype 4 infection. The varied causes of sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which should include enterovirus, are reviewed here.