慢性中耳炎から全聾をきたした1例の側頭骨病理所見

Total Deafness in Chronic Otitis Media:Temporal Bone Pathology

　はじめに

　ヒトの側頭骨病理において，生前の聴力と蝸牛の病理所見との関連は非常に興味が持たれてきた。そのうち後天性に全聾を生じる疾患は，内耳炎，内耳出血，聴器毒，突発性難聴など様々なものがあげられ，その側頭骨病理に関する報告^1〜3）も散見されるが，今なお十分には解明されていない。今回われわれは，慢性中耳炎が内耳へ波及し両側聾を生じたと考えられる側頭骨について病理学的検討を行い，若干の考察を加え報告する。

We reported temporal bone pathology in a 51-year-old female with chronic otitis media and total deafness in both ears. The left temporal bone showed that whole labyrinth was occupied by inflammatory cells and fibrosis. In the right ear, inflammatory cells were only detected in the scala tympani of the basal turn. From these results, it seemed that severe sensorineural hearing loss in otitis media might be caused by not only damage to the inner ear structures but also some patho-physiological mechanism such as hypoxia and the change of osmolality or electrolytes in perilymph.