by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man wrote:
My daughter was just diagnosed with Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome (LVAS) in one ear. Is this condition typically limited to only the currently infected ear, or can it “spread” to the other, presently uninfected, ear in the future?
Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome (LVAS) is a hereditary genetic condition so it cannot “spread” or “infect” anything. Either you have it or you don’t.
However, at present, just diagnosing the presence of LVAS seems to be a matter of opinion among doctors. For example, one doctor can read your MRIs or CT scans and declare you have LVAS in one (or both) ears. Another doctor, looking at the same films, can just as emphatically declare you don’t have LVAS.
What this means is that until more is known about LVAS and how it develops in young children, your daughter’s diagnosis is open to interpretation. Thus, it is possible that your daughter may have LVAS in both ears now, although it has not been diagnosed as such at this time.
To read more about LVAS point your browser to http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/lvas.htm.