Viral cochleitis with gadolinium enhancement of the cochlea on magnetic resonance imaging scan

Abstract

Sudden hearing loss is a clinical diagnosis describing hearing losses of sensorineural origin. The time period before onset is usually 72 hours. Many also characterize the loss by a decrement of at least 30 dB in 3 contiguous test frequencies. 1 , 2 The causes are numerous, but one of the most frequent causes is a viral infection. 3 – 6 One strong indication of a viral cause is an acute antibody titer elevation with a subsequent 4-fold reduction in titer during the next 2 months. 3 – 6 Articles in the radiologic literature have chronicled the findings of enhancement of the inner ear with gadolinium MRI scans in cases of presumed viral infections. 7 , 8 This is the first article to report the MRI enhancement of the cochlea in 2 patients with seroconversion evidence of a viral cochleitis.