Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damage to the cochlea, the auditory nerve, or the brain stem. It is the most common cause of permanent hearing loss, although some sensorineural hearing loss is temporary and reversible. Infants may present after failing their newborn hearing screen, while children and adults present with loss of ability to hear high or low pitch sounds or difficulty discriminating between several different voices in a conversation. It differs from conductive hearing loss, which limits the amount of sound waves that reach the inner ear.

Common causes of sensorineural hearing loss include advancing age, Meniere disease, head trauma, noise exposure, ototoxic medications, tumors, or infection. Complications of systemic conditions, such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, or barotrauma, may also cause sensorineural hearing loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss can present at birth or progress through early childhood and can include genetic causes (ie, Waardenburg syndrome, Usher syndrome, Pendred syndrome), congenital malformations, perilymph fistulas, infection, or prematurity. Causes of congenital hearing loss are almost always sensorineural.

A limited number of cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss have been documented in relation to COVID-19 as well as with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccinations. These studies suffer from limitations, including recall bias, nocebo effect, and survey methodology. Therefore, more evidence will be needed to determine causality.

Related topics: conductive hearing loss, sudden sensorineural hearing loss