Hi and thanks for answering questions here! Do you know what could possibly cause a "highly abnormal" ABR once acoustic neuroma and MS have been ruled out? What I'm really curious about is whether MIGRAINE can damage the nerve pathways and cause an abnormal ABR. I am a migraineur though only mildly so; I don't get bad headaches. My history includes long-term low-level dizziness (I am 55 it started 30 or so years ago). In 1999 it got worse and I finally started seeing doctors about it; have had normal ENGs various medications tried even PLF exploration but never got a diagnosis for my dizziness. I finally "diagnosed" myself with migraine-related dizziness. In 1999 I had sneezed and lost the hearing in my left ear in frequencies above 750 Hz (severe to profound loss). After a normal MRI the otoneurologist ordered an ABR and the results (in my normal-hearing ear and in my bad ear in the frequencies which could be tested) were "highly abnormal." Some of the values are more than twice the normal even in my good ear. But no one ever explained to me what could cause this. I assume there is some kind of damage to my 8th nerves on both sides (and the acoustic reflex decay was also highly abnormal on the left at 500 Hz I think) but what could cause this? Thanks for any ideas!
2014-11-20 11:18:35
This sounds like a complex case and I can understand why you still have questions. It may not be possible to be specific in the diagnosis due to the some of the complexities of the auditory and neural pathways. There are several articles on migraines and vertigo and also the effects on the audiovestibular system which I found through internet searches. One article reports a high incidence of vertigo and tinnitus with migraines and suggests that ABR evoked abnormalities may be an early indicator of impending auditory involvement in migraines. So it seems that the answer to your question about migraines causing abnormal ABR is that yes it appears possible.
2014-11-20 11:19:03
