Understanding Autoimmune Ear disease a potentially treatable cause of Deafness.

I N T R O D U C T I O N Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a common finding with an exhaustive list of etiologies. Rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss is quite distressing to patients as they are abruptly required to function with a reduced level of sensation of their environment. Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is a rare diagnosis and frequently omitted from the differential diagnosis when evaluating patients with rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss. This is unfortunate as AIED represents a potentially treatable cause of hearing loss and vestibular symptoms. The goal of this discussion is to acquaint the reader with clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of AIED.