[Therapeutic trial with corticosteroid for auditory neuropathy].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility of corticosteroid for the treatment of auditory neuropathy.


METHODS
Six patients with auditory neuropathy, diagnosed in the first affiliated hospital of Nanjing medical university between July 1998 and December 2001, were treated with corticosteroid therapy for one month (30-40 mg of prednisone daily for the first fifteen days, and 20 mg daily for following fifteen days). Prednisone was tapered gradually if a positive response to therapy was obtained. Hearing improvement was defined as 15 dB or more threshold drops in at least two of the standard audiometric frequencies in the same ear during the trial period.


RESULTS
After one month's steroid treatment, significant hearing improvement was evident in two patients with raised speech discrimination scores from 48% to 95% and from 72% to 100%, respectively. In these two cases, prednisone was used continually up to 14 and 16 weeks, respectively, and the patients still had excellent pure tone hearing abilities and speech discriminations during follow-up of three years and four months, respectively. In other four patients, positive response for corticosteroid was not found within the period of one-month trail.


CONCLUSIONS
Immunological damages of hearing system might play part role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of auditory neuropathy, and corticosteroids are potentially useful drugs for these cases.
Xing
Guangqian
G
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China. xgq@haoyisheng.com.cn
Liu
Zhiyong
Z
Wang
Dengyuan
D
Lu
Ling
L
Bu
Xingkuan
X
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D000160:Vestibulocochlear Nerve Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011241:Prednisone