Arteriolar sclerosis as a cause of presbycusis.

Temporal bones, brains, and kidneys of 40 patients over 50 years of age were studied histopathologically, paying special attention to angiosclerotic changes. The histopathologic findings were correlated with audiometric and manometric records obtained while the patients were alive. A close relation existed among the lumen narrowing of the internal auditory artery, spiral ganglion atrophy, and hearing loss. The angiosclerotic changes of the Willis' circle, encephalomalacia, and hearing loss were also related.