Therapeutic Effects of Zinc on Patients Who Have Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss with Normal Serum Zinc Level

Abstract

Received April 7, 2015 Revised August 26, 2015 Accepted August 26, 2015 Address for correspondence Yee Hyuk Kim, MD Department of OtorhinolaryngologyHead & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, 33 Duryugongwon-ro 17-gil, Nam-gu, Daegu 42472, Korea Tel +82-53-650-3489 Fax +82-53-650-4533 E-mail yhukim@cu.ac.kr Background and ObjectivesZZZinc has antioxidant effect, anti-inflammatory effect and neuromodulative function. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether treatment with zinc can improve the outcome of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Subjects and MethodZZThe study group consisted of 143 patients diagnosed as SSNHL. Of the patients, 82 were given corticosteroid treatment (group Ct) and 61 were given oral zinc plus corticosteroid treatment (group Zn). In group Zn, serum zinc level was checked before treatment and the patients with normal serum zinc level were included. Hearing was assessed before therapy and at 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months after the initiation of therapy. ResultsZZA significantly larger hearing gain in pure tone average (group Ct vs. group Zn=26.40 dB HL vs. 34.28 dB HL) and at 2000 Hz (group Ct vs. group Zn=24.93 dB HL vs. 33.60 dB HL) and 8000 Hz (group Ct vs. group Zn=11.64 dB HL vs. 20.66 dB HL) were seen in group Zn compared with the group Ct. ConclusionZZOral zinc supplementation may have beneficial effects in the treatment of SSNHL, especially at 2000 and 8000 Hz. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2015;58(12):831-5