Go Inokuchi
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0017,
Japan
Case Report
Bilateral Hearing Loss as a Presentation of Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis
Author(s): Go Inokuchi, Daisuke Yamashita, Hirokazu Komatsu, Takeshi Fujita, Shingo Hasegawa and Ken-ichi NibuGo Inokuchi, Daisuke Yamashita, Hirokazu Komatsu, Takeshi Fujita, Shingo Hasegawa and Ken-ichi Nibu
Unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss is often encountered, but bilateral progressive hearing
loss is rare. Here we present a case of a 46-year-old man who was diagnosed as the leptomeningeal carcinomatosis
(LC) from lung adenocarcinoma. An enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a strong enhancement
effect of bilateral vestibulocochlear nerves. High-resolution T2-weighted imaging additionally revealed the
accompanying metastasis in bilateral internal auditory canals (IACs). Hearing loss due to LC started from in higher
frequencies and rapidly progressed from unilateral to bilateral. Otoacoustic emission showed the positive response
inconsistent with the poor hearing results in pure tone audiometry, but this response disappeared soon with the
rapid deterioration of hearing. IAC metastasis with LC caused an irr.. View More»
