Temporal bone findings in a case of sudden deafness and relapsing polychondritis.

Light microscopic examination was made of the right temporal bone from a 57-year-old female who developed sudden total hearing loss in both ears 1 year before death. The patient had suffered from relapsing polychondritis for 1 1/2 years prior to death. Pathological changes were compatible with known viral endolymphatic labyrinthritis. Slight ossification and fibrous tissue proliferation in the perilymphatic space seem to have been caused by a spread of infection from the middle ear. Susceptibility to viral infection in the labyrinth in patients with a long-devastating illness is discussed.