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Sudden and permanent hearing loss, although rare, may be associated with COVID-19 in some patients, doctors warned on Tuesday, reporting a “first case” in the UK.
The case, reported in the scientific journal BMJ Case Reports, may mean the existence of yet another symptom caused by the new coronavirus, as it is a possible side effect of the infection.
“Despite the considerable literature on covid-19 and the various symptoms associated with the virus, discussions about the relationship between covid-19 and hearing are lacking,” these experts lament.
Doctors advocate screening for hearing loss in a hospital setting, even in intensive care, where it can be easily lost, as a way to allow rapid steroid treatment and increase the chances of recovery.
To date, only a few cases associated with COVID-19 have been reported and none have been associated with the UK.
The authors of the publication describe the case of a 45-year-old man with asthma who was treated for COVID-19 at his hospital.
Due to breathing difficulties, he was placed on a ventilator and began to improve after receiving treatments such as remdesivir, intravenous steroids, and therapeutic blood plasma exchange.
After a week of removing the breathing tube, the patient noticed an abnormal ringing sensation in his left ear, followed by a sudden hearing loss.
According to the tests carried out, the ear canals were not blocked or inflamed and his eardrums were intact.
A hearing test confirmed hearing loss in the left ear, which partially recovered after corticosteroid treatment.
After ruling out other possible causes such as flu, HIV or rheumatoid arthritis, doctors concluded that hearing loss was associated with COVID-19, the researchers added.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for covid-19, binds to certain types of cells that line the lungs and has recently been found in similar cells in the ear. This virus also generates an inflammatory reaction and an increase in substances that have been associated with hearing loss, the authors explain.
The first case of hearing loss related to the new coronavirus had been registered in April in Thailand.
Sudden hearing loss is usually registered by specialists (otorhinolaryngologists), indicating figures between 5 and 160 cases per 100,000 people per year.
The causes are not clear, but this sensory deficit may be associated, for example, with a blocked blood vessel, but also with a viral infection such as influenza virus, herpes virus or cytomegalovirus.
The covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than one million eighty-one thousand deaths and more than 37.8 million cases of contagion worldwide, according to a report prepared by the French agency AFP.
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