すもぐりによる内耳barotraumaの4例

Four Cases of Inner Ear Barotrauma Due to Breathhold Diving

I．はじめに

　近年，減圧症の生じ得ない浅い深度の潜水や，日常生活での動作に伴う内耳障害の報告が増加しており，内耳barotraumaなる概念が注目されつつある。最近，筆者らは浅い深度のすもぐりにより，内耳障害をきたした4症例を経験したので，その概要を報告し若干の文献的考察を加えた。

　Four cases of inner ear barotrauma associated with sensorineural hearing loss due to breathhold diving are reported.

　Case 1 : A 34-year-old mechanic developed bilateral deafness after diving. No recovery was seen after medication. Exploratory tympanotomy revealed no fistula of inner ear windows.

　Case 2 : A 41-year-old man had deafness three times in the left ear and once in the right alternatively. During the last episode he suffered from aacoustic trauma but recovered from sensorineural deafness showing similar audiograms.

　Case 3 : A 34-year-old photographer with severe deafness of the right ear showed recovery by medication.

　Case 4 : A 26-year-old carpenter showed no recovery of deafness despite of medication a month after the accident.

　The mechanisms of occurrence, the similarity to acoustic trauma, the treatment and the prognosis were discussed.