Introduction:

Hearing loss in patients with bacterial meningitis, is a well known phenomenon. However, a lot less is known about the possible effects of sepsis on the cochlear function, without the development of meningitis. We present two cases of acute hearing loss boardering on deafness in patients treated for sepsis without meningits.

Case Presentation:

The first patient, a 57-year-old man, was admitted to the hospital whith multiple fractures after a fall from a height of 2 meters. During his hospital stay, the patient developed pneumonia, sepsis with Staphylococcus capitis and pericardial effusion, after which he was transferred to the intensive care unit. After extubation, the patient reported bilateral hearing loss and ultimately received a cochlear implant on both sides.

The second case involved a 53-year-old patient who presented himself in the emergency room with septic shock due to peritonitis associated with Morbus Crohn. A blood culture showed the presence of 3-MRGN E. coli. The patient underwent multiple surgeries as well as systemic therapy. After several days, he reported hearing loss on the right ear and received a cochlear implant more than a year later.

Discussion:

After a thorough search of the current literature, we were unable to find other cases describing sepsis induced hearing loss in patients without meningitis. Nevertheless, both patients in this case series were diagnosed with bacteremia and developed acute hearing loss resulting in cochlear implantation shortly after the onset of the symptoms.

Nein