UC Irvine

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a debilitating disorder characterized by a rapid

loss of hearing within a short period of time due to damage to the cochlea. This medical

emergency is most often attributed to infectious, vascular, traumatic, and autoimmune

causes. However, another potential cause of sudden hearing loss is migraine headaches.

In order to further investigate the association of migraine in cases of sudden

hearing loss, we looked at T2-weighted MRI sequences of normal healthy adults, sudden

hearing loss patients, and sudden hearing loss patients with a migraine diagnosis.

Specifically, we looked at white matter hyperintensities on T2-weighted MRI scans of all

the respective subjects by using the Fazekas and Mirsen scale to grade deep and

periventricular white matter hyperintensities.

Our work showed a possible link between migraines and sudden hearing loss

because subjects in these respective groups consistently showed similarities in the

abnormalities seen on their MRI scans. Therefore, our work suggests a possible link

amongst the two illnesses, which helps in the development of better treatment options for

patients with this debilitating disorder.