Acyclovir in the treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
BACKGROUND
Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is a vexing problem that continues to pose a diagnostic and therapeutic enigma for the otologist. The aim of the study, adopting the viral theory, was to discover whether patients with ISSNHL would benefit from early treatment with acyclovir and hydrocortisone compared with patients treated by hydrocortisone alone.


METHODS
Sixty patients with ISSNHL were treated in a prospective controlled randomized manner. Patients were seen within 7 days of onset and were divided randomly into 2 groups. The study group patients were treated with acyclovir and hydrocortisone, whereas those in the control group were treated with hydrocortisone alone.


RESULTS
We compared the 2 groups before and after treatment regarding SRT, mean hearing level at each frequency, speech reception threshold improvement, gender, age, tinnitus, and balance complaints. The overall improvement was 78%.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that there probably is no benefit from the addition of acyclovir in the treatment of ISSNHL.
Uri
Nechama
N
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. druri@netvision.net.il
Doweck
Ilana
I
Cohen-Kerem
Raanan
R
Greenberg
Elhanan
E
D000212:Acyclovir / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir