Unilateral Hearing Loss Following Rubella Infection in an Adult

Abstract

A 36-year-old man was admitted to our university hospital, complaining of acute hearing loss of the right ear, which was his only hearing ear. He had developed complete deafness due to mumps in the left ear at the age of 26. Before admission, he had been diagnosed as having rubella infection. He noticed hearing loss in the right ear two days after disappearance of macular rash. Headache, nausea and vertigo were not present. Three weeks after the onset of hearing loss, he was admitted to our university hospital. Pure tone audiometry revealed sensorineural hearing loss; a mild ascending audiometric curve with a marked loss at 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz. SISI test was positive. Caloric stimulation (ice water 10 ml/10 s) to the right ear demonstrated a normal response. Rubella hemagglutination antibody titer was 512. Specific IgG antibody was over 3,200. Specific IgM antibody was positive (7.01 Enzyme Immunoassay). The data indicated recent infection with rubella. He was given bethamethasone for 14 days. Pure tone audiometry showed hearing improvement.

Key Words:

• postnatal infection
• inner ear disorder
• mumps