[Lightning strike to a vehicle causing acute acoustic trauma].

The cochlea and vestibular organ is often affected in lightning strikes. A lightning strike to a motor vehicle with cochlear injury has not been described hitherto in the literature. We report the case of a 44-year-old male patient with sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus after his car was struck by lightning. While hearing loss recovered using intravenous therapy, tinnitus persisted 6 months after the lightning strike. Cochlear injuries as an acute acoustic trauma have to be considered in lightning strikes and can occur when a car is struck by lightning.