Superior canal dehiscence syndrome

The semicircular canal dehiscence (SCD) is a category of rare neurotological diseases/disorders affecting the inner ears, comprising the superior, lateral and posterior semi-circular ducts. These SCDs induce SCD syndromes (SCDSs), which define specific sets of hearing and balance symptoms. This entry mainly deals with the superior SCDS.

The superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome (SSCDS) is a set of hearing and balance symptoms that a rare disease/disorder of the inner ear's superior semicircular canal/duct induces. The symptoms are caused by a thinning or complete absence of the part of the temporal bone overlying the superior semicircular canal of the vestibular system. There is evidence that this rare defect, or susceptibility, is congenital. There are also numerous cases of symptoms arising after physical trauma to the head. It was first described in 1998 by Lloyd B. Minor of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.