Hearing LossHearing Loss will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patien... More will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patients. Unexplained Hearing LossHearing Loss will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patien... More or tinnitusTinnitus has been described as a soft sign of the progressi... More will often be one of the earliest clinical symptoms of Superficial siderosis to present. The eighth cranial nerve is a sensory nerve with two main components: the vestibular nerve, responsible for balance, and the cochlear nerve, responsible for hearing.
“it is especially sensitive to damage from superficial siderosis caused by the breakdown of slow or repeated episodes of subarachnoid hemorrhage into hemosiderin. It is postulated that the sensitivity of cranial nerve VIII to subpial hemosiderin deposition is due to its long cisternal segment, which exposes it to a high concentration of iron, in combination with the fact that the transition from central to peripheral myelin occurs near the IAC in cranial nerve VIII but relatively close to the brainstem in cranial nerves III–XII. The central myelin and the microglia that produce it are especially sensitive to siderosis. The high iron concentration lining the brain and cranial nerves will cause local magnetic inhomogeneity and is most easily visualized on susceptibility-weighted or gradient-echo T2*-weighted images. “¹
As free iron settles and hemosiderin attaches to the eighth cranial nerve, degeneration slowly results in bilateral-asymmetric sloping sensorineural hearing lossHearing Loss will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patien... More. Unless chelation can remove hemosiderin deposits from the cranial nerve, Hearing LossHearing Loss will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patien... More will progress to complete deafness in a significant percentage of those affected.
Bilateral-asymmetric describes while both sides of your hearing will be affected, it will not be an identical loss. Sloping describes how high-frequency hearing will diminish first with lower frequency loss in the later stages as the disorder progresses.
Audiologists often misidentify sensorineural hearing lossHearing Loss will affect 95% of Superficial Siderosis patien... More arising from Superficial siderosis as early-stage presbycusis. Recently professional audiology journals have published articles regarding Superficial siderosis. Audiologists’ importance in identifying at-risk patients by matching their symptoms with past trauma or clinical events from their medical history will facilitate early detection.
Its clinical presentation’s progressive nature may present as quickly as two or as long as ten years. Since such a large portion of the eighth cranial nerve is exposed to cerebrospinal fluid, the central myelin and micro-glia are significantly at risk. The damage to specialized, impulse-conducting cells (neurons) resulting in neuronal loss to the eighth cranial nerve and possible vascular structure compression from gliosis is viewed as permanent.
Some patients have opted to undergo Cochlear Implants with excellent results. Determining, pre-procedure, if the patient has intact and functioning brainstem auditory conduction has proven a good predictor of cochlear implant success.
