Sudden sensorineural hearing loss associated with inner ear anomaly

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of inner ear anomaly in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and in control subjects. Study Design: Retrospective case review. Setting: A tertiary referral center. Patients and Intervention: We evaluated 366 patients (165 men and 201 women; age range, 3-91 yr) with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and 228 control subjects without sensorineural hearing loss using magnetic resonance imaging. Three hundred fifty-six patients had unilateral and 10 patients had bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Results: Eleven (2.9%) of 376 ears with sudden sensorineural hearing loss had inner ear anomaly. Nine patients (2.5%) had inner ear anomaly associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss, but none of the 228 control subjects had the anomaly. The current study demonstrated that the frequency of inner ear anomaly in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss was significantly higher than in control subjects. Conclusion: Our study reveals that inner ear anomaly may be associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss in 2.5% of patients.