AUTOIMMUNE ABERRATION IN SUDDEN SENSORINEURAL HEARING-LOSS - ASSOCIATION WITH ANTICARDIOLIPIN ANTIBODIES

In view of the presence of autoantibodies against inner ear antigens, the pathogenesis of sudden dearness (SD) and progressive sensorineural hearing loss (PSNHL) is suggested to be of an autoimmune nature. Howe ver, microthrombosis of the inner ear may result from pathogenic antic ardiolipin antibody (aCL) activity. We studied 30 patients (17 females and 13 males, age range 20-52 y), of whom 11 suffered from SD and 19 from PSNHL. All were clinically and serologically evaluated for associ ation with autoimmune disorders (serological examination included: aCL , ANA, ENA, ANCA, proteinelectrophoresis, and complement levels). Twen ty healthy matched subjects served as controls. None of the control gr oup were aCL positive, whereas 8 out of 30 (27%) patients demonstrated low-moderate titers (P < 0.02), of whom 5 out of 8 suffered from SD. In addition, 2 aCL negative patients with PSNHL demonstrated hypergamm aglubolinemia accompanied by hypocomplementemia, whereas none with SD had such abnormalities. Our data suggests that aCL is detected in pati ents with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and therefore may play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disability. If sustained by additional studies, these findings would warrant the consideration of anticoagulant therapy.