A new disease: Pregnancy-induced sudden sensorineural hearing loss?

Abstract

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) may occur during pregnancy, but its prevalence is very low. It is conjectured that SSNHL is closely related to the changes in the cardiovascular system, hematological system, endocrine system, and/or some other systems due to pregnancy. These changes possibly evoke disorders of cochlear circulation or cochlear fluid homeostasis leading to SSNHL. Two SSNHL cases were observed in our clinic, and their clinical features were analyzed. In one patient the SSNHL was likely to be related to the disturbance of cochlear fluid homestasis and in the other it might be induced by some disorders in cochlear circulation. Based on their distinct clinic profiles, we defined a new disease, called “pregnancy-induced sudden sensorineural hearing loss,” similar to the definition of “pregnancy-induced hypertension.” This study also deepened our understanding of the etiology of SSNHL.

Keywords::

• Hormone
• cochlear circulation
• cochlear fluid homeostasis

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30830104 and 30771203), the Beijing Nature Science and Technology Major Project (7070002), the National Science & Technology Pillar Program in the 11th Five-year Plan Period (2007BAI18B12). We thank the patients and the patients' families for their co-operation. We thank the technicians in the Clinical Auditory Medicine Centre at the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital for their technical support.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.