Saturday, January 2, 2010

beethoven's deafness

i have recently googled the above title and found some good information. there is a scholarly text by john o'shea--"was mozart poisoned/" and several excellent biographical sites under lvbeethoven.... in the 1980's i read medical opinions regarding beethoven's deafness both linking this to the prominent frontal bossing of his skull. one suggested PAGET disease and another congenital syphilis!! well, cosidering his age at the onset (25?), he was too old to bear the mask of congenital syphilis and too old to manifest paget dz. others have suggested labyrinthitis, SLE, and typhus. i think it was most likely otosclerosis (the onset and progression are typical)but this i usually familial and affects low frequency perception.

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