Some Causes of Sudden Hearing Loss

Idiopathic

N/A

Accounts for a majority of cases

Obvious events

Acute infections (eg, bacterial meningitis, mumps, herpes)

Major head or ear trauma (including barotrauma during scuba diving causing perilymphatic fistula)

Ototoxic medications (eg, aminoglycosides, vancomycin, cisplatin, furosemide, ethacrynic acid); these mostly cause hearing loss over a longer time period but can rarely present as a sudden loss)*(eg, aminoglycosides, vancomycin, cisplatin, furosemide, ethacrynic acid); these mostly cause hearing loss over a longer time period but can rarely present as a sudden loss)*

Other disorders

Vestibular schwannoma

Systemic rheumatic and autoimmune disorders (eg, Cogan syndrome, granulomatosis with polyangiitis)

Cerebellar stroke

Meniere syndrome

Multiple sclerosis

Reactivation of syphilis in HIV-infected patient

Red blood cell abnormalities (eg, sickle cell disease)

Vascular disorders (eg, vertebrobasilar insufficiency)