Sudden deafness and right-to-left shunts.
OBJECTIVE
One of the etiologies for idiopathic sudden deafness is considered to be ischemia of the inner ear. Cryptogenic stroke is caused by a right-to-left shunt (RLS). The present study investigated whether RLS is associated with the occurrence of sudden deafness.


METHODS
Contrast saline transcranial Doppler ultrasonography was performed to detect RLS. Subjects comprised 23 consecutive sudden deafness patients and 46 age- and gender-matched controls. Clinical characteristics, including vascular risk factors, were compared between sudden deafness and control groups.


RESULTS
RLS was more frequent in the sudden deafness group than in controls (48 vs. 17%, p = 0.011). No significant differences in other clinical characteristics were seen between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
RLS may be a potential cause of sudden deafness.
Iguchi
Yasuyuki
Y
Department of Stroke Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki City, Okayama, Japan. yigu@med.kawasaki-m.ac.jp
Kimura
Kazumi
K
Kobayashi
Kazuto
K
Tachi
Toshihiro
T
Aihara
Teruhito
T
Harada
Tamotsu
T