Severe sudden sensorineural hearing loss related to risk of stroke and atherosclerosis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 20204
• Main Authors: Tsuzuki, Nobuyoshi, Wasano, Koichiro, Oishi, Naoki, Hentona, Ko, Shimanuki, Marie, Nishiyama, Takanori, Hiraga, Yoshihiko, Shinden, Seiichi, Ogawa, Kaoru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 12.10.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Arteriosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis - diagnostic imaging; Atherosclerosis - epidemiology; Cerebral infarction; Cochlea; Female; Health risks; Hearing loss; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - epidemiology; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - etiology; Hearing Loss, Sudden - epidemiology; Hearing Loss, Sudden - etiology; Hearing protection; Humans; Hypotheses; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neuroma, Acoustic - diagnostic imaging; Neuroma, Acoustic - epidemiology; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Schwann cells; Stroke; Stroke - epidemiology; Vestibular system
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99731-w

The cause of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (idiopathic SSNHL)-diagnosed after excluding other causes of hearing loss, such as SSNHL associated with vestibular schwannoma (VS)-is unknown. The presumed pathogenesis of idiopathic SSNHL includes circulatory disorders (e.g., cochlear infarction). We tested the hypothesis that patients with SSNHL who are at high stroke risk will have a lower rate of VS compared to those with low stroke risk. The rationale is that the primary cause of SSNHL in patients with high stroke risk might be a circulatory disturbance. We conducted a retrospective study in six hospitals. Our sampling of SSNHL patients included those diagnosed with idiopathic SSNHL and VS-associated SSNHL. SSNHL patients who had a head MRI were stratified by severity of hearing loss and evaluated for differences in the detection rate of VS between the high-scoring CHADS (CHADS -H-), an index of stroke risk, and low-scoring CHADS (CHADS -L-) groups. We identified 916 patients who met the inclusion criteria. For severe hearing loss, the CHADS -H group had a significantly lower rate of VS than the CHADS -L group (OR 0 [95% CI 0.00-0.612]; P = 0.007). These results indirectly support the hypothesis that a primary cause of severe idiopathic SSNHL in those at high risk of stroke might be a circulatory disorder.