Abstract
(1) Background: A retrospective clinical study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of different pharmacological and non-pharmacological regimens for treating sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). (2) Methods: Adult patients (n = 130) diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and hospitalized between 2015 and 2020 were enrolled in this study. Depending on the treatment regimen applied, patients were divided into five groups. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) hearing loss of sudden onset; (ii) hearing loss of at least 30 dB at three consecutive frequencies; (iii) unilateral hearing loss; (iv) age above 18 years. Exclusion criteria were as follows: (i) no follow-up audiogram; (ii) bilateral hearing loss; (iii) recognized alternative diagnosis such as tumor, disorder of inner ear fluids, infection or inflammation, autoimmune disease, malformation, hematological disease, dialysis-dependent renal failure, postdural puncture syndrome, gene-related syndrome, mitochondrial disease; and (iv) age below 18 years. (3) Results: Complete recovery was found in 14% of patients (18/130) and marked improvement was found in 6% (8/130), giving an overall success rate of 20%. The best results were obtained in the second group (i.e., patients given intratympanic glucocorticoid + prolonged orally administered glucocorticoid) where the success rate was 28%. In general, the older the patient, the smaller the improvement in hearing, a correlation that was statistically significant. (4) Conclusions: In treating SSNHL, the highest rate of hearing recovery—28%—was in the group of patients given intratympanic corticoid plus prolonged treatment with orally administered glucocorticoid.
Highlights
Introduction iationsSudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is, from a pathophysiological point of view, still poorly understood, even though first reports of it date back to 1944 [1]
Between 2015 and 2020, 130 patients diagnosed with SSNHL were retrospectively selected from a database containing medical records from all patients admitted to the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing due to sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and enrolled to this study
Because we wanted to show the results of all patients, we did not excluded any patients who had full medical history and post SSNHL tests because different schemes of treatment were used for different patients, and the reasons for these may have depended on different factors
Summary
Introduction iationsSudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is, from a pathophysiological point of view, still poorly understood, even though first reports of it date back to 1944 [1]. SSNHL is defined as the sudden and rapid development (within 24 to 72 h) of hearing loss, in one or both ears, of at least 30 dB at three or more contiguous frequencies [2,3]. A German study has shown an incidence as high as 160 cases per 100,000 per year [4], the true number is probably much higher. This is because many people do not seek medical help, and recovery occur by itself [5,6]. Many theories about the cause of the disease have been proposed
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