Sudden sensorineural hearing loss as a presentation of multiple sclerosis.

While auditory involvement in multiple sclerosis is not infrequent, sensorineural hearing loss as the initial manifestation of this disease is rare. Auditory brain-stem evoked responses, speech audiometry, acoustic reflexes, and electronystagmography yield significant objective information concerning brain-stem involvement. Magnetic resonance imaging objectively documents white matter demyelinization. The acute onset of the retrocochlear type of auditory dysfunction without other evidence of central nervous system involvement can be an early manifestation of this disease. Two patients with multiple sclerosis had sudden sensorineural hearing loss, with one patient experiencing this as the sole initial complaint.