title: Improvement in sensorineural hearing loss during pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hearing loss is known to occur in some pregnant women, but improvement in sensorineural thresholds has not been audiometrically characterized. Here, we describe a patient with a history of Ménière's disease and vestibular migraine who experienced temporary recovery of her hearing during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Audiograms were obtained from a 31-year-old female over the course of 2 successive pregnancies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Audiograms revealed a substantial improvement in hearing by the third trimester during each pregnancy, with a rapid return to baseline thresholds after delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case is unique in documenting improvements in hearing thresholds during pregnancy and substantiates the effects of hormonal changes on hearing thresholds in humans. It raises the intriguing possibility of hormonal therapy as a treatment for sensorineural hearing loss in specific clinical situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Madelyn N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA hullart@ent.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Timothy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Hullar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000379:methods; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000150:complications*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Ménière’s; audiogram; auditory; hearing; hormone; migraine; pregnancy; threshold; vestibular