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Hearing symptoms in migrainous infarction

Lee H, Whitman GT, Lim JG, Yi SD, Cho YW, Ying S, Baloh RW

Archives of neurology, 2003

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In case reports, migraine headaches have been associated with fluctuating low-frequency hearing loss and sudden, unilateral hearing loss. Auditory symptoms associated with migrainous infarction have not previously been emphasized.

OBJECTIVE: To describe migrainous infarction presenting with acute auditory symptoms.

DESIGN: Case reports.

SETTING: Tertiary care hospitals.

PATIENTS: A 40-year-old man with a history of migraine suddenly developed bilateral hearing loss associated with severe, throbbing, occipital headache, tinnitus, vertigo, speech disturbance, and right hemiparesis. An early audiogram showed profound, down-sloping, sensorineural-type hearing loss bilaterally. Sixteen days later, a follow-up pure tone audiogram documented marked improvement in both sides to a pure tone average of 30 dB. Right hemiparesis and dysarthria also improved steadily for 2 months. A 25-year-old woman with a history of migraine with aura suddenly developed hyperacusis, unilateral hearing loss, and migraine headache early in migrainous infarction. Magnetic resonance imaging documented infarcts in the pons and cerebellum.

CONCLUSIONS: In these patients, acute auditory symptoms are a part of the prodrome of migrainous infarction. We speculate that these symptoms may have resulted from migraine-associated vasospasm. Migrainous infarction should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute auditory symptoms, including sudden, bilateral hearing loss.

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