Isolation of mumps virus from the inner ear after sudden deafness.

A 26-year-old woman with bilateral otosclerosis underwent right stapedectomy with an excellent result. One year later, however, she developed symptoms of mumps and within two days was completely deaf in the right ear. Prompt surgical exploration excluded a complication of the otosclerosis and a perilymph fistula, but culture of a sample of perilymph grew mumps virus. The case provides direct evidence of a relation between mumps virus infection and inner-ear damage.