Citation

Ohki M, Ishikawa J, Tahara A. Case Rep. Otolaryngol. 2012; 2012(online): 203714.

Affiliation

Department of Otolaryngology, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama 350-8550, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Hindawi Publishing)

DOI

10.1155/2012/203714

PMID

22953102

Abstract

Deployment of the air bag in a passenger vehicle accident rarely causes otologic injuries. However, sensorineural hearing loss induced by air bag deployment is extremely rare, with only a few cases reported in the English literature. A 38-year-old man involved in a traffic accident while driving his car at 40 km/hour presented with right sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, without associated vertigo. Pure-tone audiometry demonstrated elevated thresholds of 30 dB and 25 dB at 4 kHz and 8 kHz, respectively, on the right side. Air bag deployment in car accidents is associated with the risk of development of sensorineural hearing loss.

Language: en