Sudden sensorineural hearing loss following nonotologic, noncardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To report 3 cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) following nonotologic surgery in which cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery was not involved and to review reports in the literature of similar cases.

DATA SOURCES: Clinical records and MEDLINE and Healthstar databases.

STUDY SELECTION: Reports in the world literature of cases of SSHL following nonotologic, non-CPB surgery.

DATA SYNTHESIS: While said to be more common after CPB surgery, fewer than 20 cases of SSHL following non-otologic, non-CPB surgery have been reported. A number of proposed causes of SSHL temporally related to non-otologic, non-CPB surgery have been theorized; however, the true cause is unknown. This report presents 3 cases of SSHL following nonotologic, non-CPB surgery. Two patients had profound unilateral loss; 1 had moderate bilateral loss. None of the patients demonstrated recovery despite diuretic and prednisone therapy; in approximately 30% of the cases reported to date, the patients experienced significant improvement.

CONCLUSIONS: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss following nonotologic, non-CPB surgery is rare, and its cause remains unknown. The scarcity of reports of SSHL following nonotologic, non-CPB surgery raises the possibility that the apparent association may be spurious.