Davies P J
Hist Sci Med. 1995;29(3):271-6.
The author reminds us of the great moments of Beethoven's life and of the different stages of his deafness onset, until to last instants. The post-mortem examination, performed by doctor Wagner, and the scientific studies of the remains, during the exhumations, are reported. Beethoven's deafness was clearly a sensorineural impairment and the previously suggested prevalent hypotheses are discussed. A new theory is emphasized, based on modern studies about autoimmune sensorineural hearing losses in relation with chronic inflammatory bowel ailment. Conclusion is that Beethoven's deafness was probably owing to a primary autoimmune degeneration of the organ of Corti, giving rise to atrophy of the auditory nerve.
作者让我们想起了贝多芬生命中的伟大时刻以及他耳聋发病的不同阶段，直至最后时刻。文中报道了由瓦格纳医生进行的尸检以及挖掘遗骸期间对遗骸的科学研究。贝多芬的耳聋显然是一种感音神经性损伤，并对之前提出的主要假说进行了讨论。基于关于自身免疫性感音神经性听力损失与慢性炎症性肠病关系的现代研究，强调了一种新理论。结论是，贝多芬的耳聋可能是由于柯蒂氏器原发性自身免疫性退变，导致听神经萎缩。
