Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 16, 2025; 13(8): 98320
Published online Mar 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i8.98320
Herpes simplex virus 2-induced aseptic meningitis presenting with sudden deafness: A case report
Yuan-Cheng Liu, Shih-Hsuan Hsiao, Peir-Rong Chen
Yuan-Cheng Liu, Peir-Rong Chen, Department of Otolaryngology, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien 970, Taiwan
Shih-Hsuan Hsiao, Department of Otolaryngology, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 970, Taiwan
Author contributions: Hsiao SH, Chen PR designed the research study; Hsiao SH performed the research; Liu YC analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shih-Hsuan Hsiao, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Otolaryngology, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, and Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, 707, Sec 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien 970, Taiwan. hsiao62ntuh@gmail.com
Received: June 24, 2024
Revised: November 3, 2024
Accepted: November 22, 2024
Published online: March 16, 2025
Processing time: 162 Days and 22.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: We report a case of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2)-induced meningitis presenting with sudden deafness. A 68-year-old man experienced sudden left-sided hearing loss for one day. Pure-tone audiograms showed left-sided sensorineural hearing loss with an average threshold of 80 dB. After one week of high-dose steroids, the patient experienced acute changes in consciousness with left hemiparesis. Laboratory data showed no significant abnormalities. Brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed no intracranial hemorrhage or lesions. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis and multiplex PCR confirmed HSV-2. Acyclovir was prescribed for herpes meningoencephalitis, and symptoms gradually resolved.