November 2, 2009
Complications, Other
Question from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA:
Diagnosed with type 1 nine years ago, my 15-year-old daughter has had A1cs from 5.9 to 7.2%. About six weeks ago, she developed sudden hearing loss in her right ear. She is now completely deaf in that ear. She was given high dose steroids and intratypmanic membrane steroid injections with no improvement. We have seen three different ENT specialists. They all attribute her hearing loss to a possible complication of her diabetes. Have you ever heard of this as a complication? All of her blood tests, MRI and CT of brain were normal. I also took her for a complete work up on her eyes and kidneys; this also was normal. Her endocrinologist has never had another pediatric patient with sudden hearing loss.
Answer:
I also have never seen such hearing loss as you describe in 30 years of practice. So, I would look for another cause. I do not think that this problem is from diabetes, particularly with the excellent control A1c values you report.
SB
