Inner ear hemorrhage in systemic lupus erythematosus.

A 33-year-old man had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with anticardiolipin antibody. At the age of 40 years, he experienced bilateral hearing deterioration. The three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery of magnetic resonance imaging showed high signals bilaterally in the cochlea and vestibule. He was diagnosed with bilateral inner ear hemorrhage on the basis of the presence of anticardiolipin antibody. This is the first published case of inner ear hemorrhage in a patient with SLE. Our findings suggest that inner ear hemorrhage is associated with hearing deterioration in some patients with SLE.