Endocochleäre schwerhörigkeit nach infektion mit mycoplasma pneumoniae

Background: A sudden unilateral hearing loss in childhood is commonly regarded as an unusual event. Case-Report: In this paper, we report of a 10 year old girl suffering from a unilateral right-sided sudden hearing loss following an acute infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is also rarely observed. Maximum hearing loss was estimated around 30 dB (0.25 - 6 kHz), which resolved after infusions using plasma expanders. Both transitory and distortion product otoacoustic emissions remained absent, while latencies of acoustically evoked potentials were normal. Discussion: This suggests a damage of outer hair cell function as an explanation for the observed hearing loss. The coincidence of two rare events for children such as a spontaneous sudden unilateral hearing loss combined with an infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae gives rise to the hypothesis of a causal relationship that is discussed according to the literature.