A case report of cochlear hearing loss following an infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Background: A sudden unilateral hearing loss in childhood is commonly regar ded 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 follo wing an acute infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is also rarely ob served. Maximum hearing loss was estimated around 30 dB (0.25-6 kHz), which resolved after infusions using plasma expanders. Both transitory and disto rtion product otoacoustic emissions remained absent, while latencies of aco ustically evoked potentials were normal. Discussion: This suggests a damage of outer hair cell function as an explanation for the observed hearing los s. The coincidence of two rare events for children such as a spontaneous su dden unilateral hearing loss combined with an infection with Mycoplasma pne umoniae gives rise to the hypothesis of a causal relationship that is discu ssed according to the literature.