Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, 20, Ilsan-ro, Wonju, Gangwon-do, Wonju 26426, South Korea.
Research Institute of Hearing Enhancement, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, South Korea.
Auris Nasus Larynx. 2021 Oct;48(5):823-829. doi: 10.1016/j.anl.2021.01.002. Epub 2021 Jan 13.
The association between sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and radiological findings of the vertebrobasilar artery is not well-known and little research has been done. We hypothesized that the radiological features of the vertebrobasilar artery contribute to the incidence and prognosis of SSNHL.
We retrospectively enrolled patients diagnosed with unilateral SSNHL (SSNHL group) and those with acute vestibular neuritis (AVN; control group) in our hospital. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. We measured the following parameters on the radiological images: basilar artery diameter, direction and distance of basilar artery deviation, direction and distance of vertebral artery deviation, and incidence of vertebral artery obstruction. Pure tone audiometry (PTA) was performed in all patients. Follow up PTA between 1 week and 1 month after treatment was performed in the SSNHL group.
A total of 244 SSNHL patients and 62 AVN patients were included in the analysis. Age, body mass index, and basilar artery diameter were found to be significantly associated with SSNHL. In the SSNHL group, patients were divided into three subgroups based on the consistency between the basilar artery deviation site and disease site. No significant difference was noted in initial PTA, final PTA, PTA recovery, and symptom improvement among the three groups. In case of the basilar artery, when the deviation and disease sites were in the opposite direction and the basilar artery diameter was >3.5 mm, diameter of basilar artery was positively correlated with PTA recovery.
The strength of this study is that radiological evaluation of the vertebrobasilar artery was performed. Further research on the association between SSNHL and radiological features of the vertebrobasilar artery should be conducted to emphasize the importance of vascular assessment in SSNHL.
突发性聋（SSNHL）与椎基底动脉影像学表现之间的关系尚不清楚，相关研究较少。我们假设椎基底动脉的影像学特征与 SSNHL 的发病和预后有关。
我们回顾性纳入了在我院诊断为单侧 SSNHL（SSNHL 组）和急性前庭神经炎（AVN；对照组）的患者。所有患者均接受了磁共振成像和计算机断层扫描检查。我们在影像学图像上测量了以下参数：基底动脉直径、基底动脉偏移方向和距离、椎动脉偏移方向和距离以及椎动脉阻塞发生率。所有患者均进行了纯音听阈测试（PTA）。SSNHL 组在治疗后 1 周至 1 个月进行了随访 PTA。
共纳入 244 例 SSNHL 患者和 62 例 AVN 患者。年龄、体重指数和基底动脉直径与 SSNHL 显著相关。在 SSNHL 组中，根据基底动脉偏移部位与病变部位的一致性，将患者分为三组。三组间初始 PTA、最终 PTA、PTA 恢复和症状改善无显著差异。在基底动脉中，当基底动脉直径>3.5mm 且基底动脉的偏移部位与病变部位相反时，基底动脉直径与 PTA 恢复呈正相关。
本研究的优势在于对椎基底动脉进行了影像学评估。应该进一步研究 SSNHL 与椎基底动脉影像学特征之间的关系，以强调血管评估在 SSNHL 中的重要性。
