Sudden sensorineural hearing loss: our experience in diagnosis, treatment, and outcome.
OBJECTIVE
To describe our experience concerning sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in a large single-institution series of SSNHL patients and to discuss the results.


METHODS
This was a retrospective study, and the charts of 156 consecutive inpatients (65 males, mean age 44 years, range 10-74 years; 91 females, mean age 46 years, range 15-75 years) with the diagnosis of SSNHL from 1987 to 2000 were reviewed. One hundred forty-three of 156 patients received multidrug therapy (plasma expanders, antiaggregants, steroids), whereas only 13 SSNHL patients received hyperbaric oxygen therapy.


RESULTS
Old age, vascular and metabolic risk factors, and cigarette smoking do not a have a high prevalence in the SSNHL population. An etiologic factor was detected in 23 of 156 (15%) cases (16 cases of acute infection, 4 cases of neurovascular conflicts, 2 cases of cerebellar angiomas, 1 case of cochleovestibular schwannoma). The outcome was not related to the laterality, age, or hearing loss type. On the contrary, a statistically significant association between poor recovery and male sex, both tinnitus and vertigo, and the initial severity of the hearing loss was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Mostly, SSNHL results in idiopathic disease. At present, diagnostic and therapeutic efforts appear to be inadequate to improve the prognosis of SSNHL. Further studies are needed to obtain better knowledge about the etiopathogenesis of SSNHL so that new therapeutic strategies can be considered in the treatment of this challenging ear disease.
Cadoni
Gabriella
G
Iustituteo of Otorhinolaryngology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. gabcad@virgilio.it
Agostino
Stefania
S
Scipione
Simona
S
Ippolito
Silvia
S
Caselli
Andrea
A
Marchese
Raffaella
R
Paludetti
Gaetano
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014012:Tinnitus; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014717:Vertigo