Acute Hearing Loss Due To Thickening of Heart Mitral Valve

PLoS Medicine presents a rare case of a 47-year-old woman who was hospitalized due to acute hearing loss. Not until about four days after visiting the hospital did she begin to show some signs suggesting cardiovascular disease – shortness of breath, a dry cough, and edema of her face and legs. In the end, she was diagnosed with a blockage in the left middle cerebral artery leading to stroke. Via echocardiogram, her mitral valve appeared to have significant thickening.

It’s an interesting case because hearing loss is a rare symptom compared to the most well known warning signs of stroke:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Photo: Michelangelo’s giant statue of David in the Medici Chapel

Technorati Tags: stroke, mitral valve, stenosis, hearing loss, clot, heart disease, disease, health, cardiovascular disease, cvd