Hunt症候群における難聴の検討

Audiological Findings in Ramsay Hunt's Syndrome

I．はじめに

　Hunt症候群は耳介，外耳道の帯状疱疹に伴い顔面神経麻痺や耳鳴，難聴，めまいなどの第八脳神経症状をきたす疾患である。本症は水痘，帯状疱疹ウイルス（Varicella-Zoster Virus, VZV）による感染症であり，mumps，麻疹などとともに難聴をきたすウイルス性疾患として知られている。Hunt症候群における聴覚障害については文献的にもすでにいくつかの報告がみられるが，難聴の程度，パターン，予後などの詳細については不明な点が多い。今回当科で経験したHunt症候群患者のうら難聴を伴った症例につしいて検討を行い，若干の知見を得たので報告する。

　Audiological findings in Ramsay Hunt's syndrome were studied to elucidate the severity, type and prognosis of hearing loss. Of 133 patients in past 9 years and 5 months, hearing loss was found in 44 patients. In the majority of cases hearing loss was mild, and a severe hearing loss was seldom found. Vertigo with severity of facial nerve palsy did not always correspond to the severity of hearing loss. The audiograms were classified as follow ; high frequency loss in 23, high and low frequency loss in 9, flat loss in 9, and others 3. Recruitment phenomenon was tested in 5 ; negative in 4 and positive in 1. The hearing loss was consecutively evaluated in 19 cases of which 13 showed an improvement to some extent. Hearing loss in Ramsay Hunt's syndrome which was generally mild and had a tendency to recover, was considered to be caused by the involvement of the cochlear nerve by varicella-zoster virus.