Experience of sudden sensorineural hearing loss following a mild COVID-19 infection.

A woman in her 30s was referred to an otolaryngologist with an acute onset of aural fullness, noise sensitivity, unilateral sudden onset hearing loss, vertigo and tinnitus. She had a confirmed COVID-19 infection 5 weeks prior. A pure tone audiogram confirmed sensorineural hearing loss. MRI identified an empty sella of the pituitary gland and without an obvious cause for hearing loss. Oral prednisolone and betahistine were prescribed, and her audiovestibular symptoms slowly improved over the subsequent months. The patient continues to experience intermittent tinnitus.

Amelioration of Sensorineural Hearing Loss through Regulation of Trpv1, Cacna1h, and Ngf Gene Expression by a Combination of Cuscutae Semen and Rehmanniae Radix Preparata.

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a common condition that results from the loss of function of hair cells, which are responsible for converting sound into electrical signals within the cochlea and auditory nerve. Despite the prevalence of SNHL, a universally effective treatment has yet to be approved. To address this absence, the present study aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of TS, a combination of Cuscutae Semen and Rehmanniae Radix Preparata. To this end, both in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to evaluate the efficacy of TS with respect to SNHL. The results showed that TS was able to protect against ototoxic neomycin-induced damage in both HEI-OC1 cells and otic hair cells in zebrafish. Furthermore, in images obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), an increase in the number of kinocilia, which was prompted by the TS treatment, was observed in the zebrafish larvae. In a noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) mouse model, TS improved hearing thresholds as determined by the auditory brainstem response (ABR) test. Additionally, TS was found to regulate several genes related to hearing loss, including Trpv1, Cacna1h, and Ngf, as determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that TS holds promise as a potential treatment for sensorineural hearing loss. Further research is necessary to confirm these results and evaluate the safety and efficacy of TS in a clinical setting.

Intratympanic steroid treatments rescued recurrent hearing loss following COVID-19 vaccination and detection of an intralabyrinthine schwannoma.

It remains unclear how to effectively treat rare cases of sudden and recurrent hearing losses which might coincidently follow vaccination. We report the first case, to our knowledge, of systemic and local steroid administration to successfully treat sudden and recurrent left-ear hearing loss, respectively, following a second dose of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccination which inflammatory response potentially affected an existing left intralabyrinthine schwannoma in a young male patient. This case highlights the importance and timing of intratympanic steroid treatment strategies to suppress the progressive symptoms and restore hearing to a stable condition, and therefore avoid permanent hearing loss which would otherwise demand a surgical removal of the schwannoma to improve vertigo and reconstitute artificial hearing.

Relapse of rare diseases during COVID-19 pandemic: bicytopenia in an adult patient with thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anaemia.

Thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anaemia (TRMA) is a syndrome associated with megaloblastic anaemia, diabetes mellitus and sensorineural deafness, due to mutations in the SLC19A2gene, which codes for a thiamine carrier protein. Oral thiamine supplementation is the main treatment. We report the case of a 19-year-old man known for TRMA, who presented in the emergency department with bicytopenia (haemoglobin 5,4 g/dL, thrombocytes 38×109/L) revealed by dyspnea and chest pain. Investigations excluded bleeding, hemolysis, coagulopathy and iron deficiencies. A recent infection and an acute coronary syndrome have also been eliminated. We later found out that thiamine treatment had been discontinued three months before, due to general confinement in Tunisia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parenteral administration of 100 mg of thiamine daily resulted in the recovery of haematopoiesis within three weeks.