Early Recovery of Sympathetic Ophthalmia with Hearing Loss in a Young Man

Abstract

Hearing loss is rarely associated with sympathetic ophthalmia. We describe a young man who presented with sympathetic ophthalmia and concurrent hearing loss one month post globe rupture. The presentation was very subtle and atypical. However, the patient recovered fully after two weeks of prompt oral corticosteroid therapy which resulted in good visual and hearing outcomes. This patient demonstrated that the acute phase of sympathetic ophthalmia is reversible with early recognition of features, timely diagnosis, and rapid initiation of corticosteroid therapy.

Sympathetic ophthalmia: Report of a case series and comprehensive review of the literature

“…We described 16 new SO patients at our hospital then conducted a literature search, retrieving a total of 87 previous case reports of SO. 9,10,16–67 These 103 patients had an average age at presentation of 44.9 years (ranging from 2.5–85 years) and consisted of 69 males (66.9%) and 34 females (33.1%). There were 51 patients (49.5%) who underwent ocular therapies and 52 patients (50.5%) with a previous history of trauma.…”