Auditory dysfunction in Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

A 48-year-old woman with a Ramsay Hunt syndrome due to herpes zoster had a hearing deficit. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) localised the site of dysfunction to the ipsilateral eighth nerve. Clinical improvement was associated with improvement of the BAEP. Conventional audiological studies and BAEPs provided no evidence of involvement of the cochlea or the brainstem. In Ramsay Hunt syndrome, BAEPs may help to localise the site of involvement within the auditory pathway and follow the course of the disease.