[Blood viscosity profile in rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss with positive Western-blot].

Objective: To value a possible association between disorders in blood viscosity of patients with rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss (RPSHL) of autoimmune origin.

Patients And Methods: We studied the viscoelastic properties of blood in 43 subjects bearing of RPSHL and a positive Western-blot for anticochlear antibodies: whole blood viscosity (WBV) at different shear rates and erythrocyte filterability (EF). These results were related to hearing loss initially detected and recovery average one year later from steroid therapy.