Bullous myringitis with sensorineural hearing loss.

Bullous myringitis is manifested by moderately severe otalgia associated with vesicles on the tympanic membrane and medial external auditory canal wall. This disease occurs mainly in young adults, most commonly in winter, and is usually preceded or accompanied by an upper respiratory infection. A reversible sensorineural loss developed in three of 22 patients. Complement fixation antibody studies performed on ten patients failed to implicate Mycoplasma pneumoniae, influenza virus types A or B, or adenovirus as the causal agent.