Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZJlHdKNwpVU   Covid19 can now be added to the family of virus capable of infecting and damaging inner ear cells that provide our hearing and sense of balance.  Investigators at MIT and Harvard’s Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary now report this finding that may explain why some CoVid patients report hearing loss, ringing in their ears or tinnitus, and balance problems.   The investigators studied cellular models of the inner ear and, in limited cases, actual human inner ear tissues obtained from patients undergoing surgery for other reasons including cancer.  The cellular inner ear models were initially developed to study viruses known to cause deafness including cytomegalovirus mumps virus, and hepatitis virus. To create these models, stem cells were derived from skin cells and stimulated to differentiate into typical inner ear cells including hair cells, nerve cells, and supporting cells.   Studies show that inner ear cells including the all-important hair cells and nerve-insulating S