Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to verify the efficacy and the safety of intratympanic dexamethasone as salvage therapy
to treat sudden sensorineural hearing loss and discuss the correlation between outcomes of SSNHL with: patient’s age,
time to onset of disease and therapy, severity of HL presence of vertigo, diabetes. Prospective study of 7 patients with
unilateral sensorineural hearing loss that developed within 72 hr and presenting for 30 days of onset with no evidence of
any other identifiable etiology for sudden HL. In our study group after inclusion and exclusion 7 patients were available
for study. There were six male (86%) and one female (14%), the mean age of the patients was 53 years with a range from
32 to 67 years of age. Hearing improvement was occur in (57%) four patients, one had a complete hearing improvement,
while three of them represented partial hearing improvement, under 60 years of age the recovery rate (RR) were 66.6%
compared with RR 50% in patient with 60 years of age or older. RR was with losses greater than 90 dB RR (8.3%)
compared with losses that were less than or equal to 90 dB (35.7%). We conclude that, an application of ITDI significantly
improves the recovery outcomes in SSNHL, while the older age, sever hearing loss, associated with poorer recovery rate,
on other hand presences of DM or vertigo does not significantly change the recovery rate.