Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED)

Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) was first defined by Dr. Brian McCabe in a landmark paper describing an autoimmune loss of hearing. The disease results in progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) that acts bilaterally and asymmetrically, and sometimes affects an individual's vestibular system. AIED is used to describe any disorder in which the inner ear is damaged as a result of an autoimmune response. Some examples of autoimmune disorders that have presented with AIED are Cogan's Syndrome, relapsing polychondritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Wegener's granulomatosis, olyarteritis nodosa, Sjogren's syndrome, and Lyme disease.