Tinnitus as a prognostic factor of sudden deafness.
CONCLUSIONS
The 'tinnitus-rare' group had a poorer prognosis for hearing than the 'tinnitus-often' group in all sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), although the 'shorter duration' group had better prognosis than the 'longer duration' when restricted to SSNHL accompanied by tinnitus. This indicates that tinnitus itself may not be a sign for poor hearing prognosis but might be an essential sound for the initiation of repair of a damaged auditory system.


OBJECTIVE
We examined the hearing improvement rate (HIR) and tinnitus at the onset of SSNHL to elucidate the prognostic value of tinnitus accompanying SSNHL.


METHODS
Fifty patients with SSNHL were treated with systemic administration of steroids. Hearing recovery was determined by comparing the hearing levels before and after treatment. Tinnitus was subjectively evaluated by the tinnitus scoring questionnaire. The score for the five-step evaluation of the subjective tinnitus feelings 'loudness', 'duration' and 'annoyance' was obtained at the onset.


RESULTS
In terms of 'duration', when we divided all the cases into 'tinnitus-rare' group and 'tinnitus-often' group, HIR in the 'tinnitus-rare' group was significantly lower than that in 'tinnitus-often' group. When restricted to the 'tinnitus-often' group, HIR for 'shorter duration' was significantly higher than that for 'longer duration'.
Department of Otolaryngology, Tondabayashi Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Noriko
N
Hikita-Watanabe
Tadashi
T
Kitahara
Arata
A
Horii
Takayuki
T
Kawashima
Katsumi
K
Doi
Shin-Ichi
S
Okumura
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; C007133:hydrocortisone hemisuccinate; D006854:Hydrocortisone