Intratympanic methylprednisolone as rescue therapy in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
Treatment in sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a contentious issue, today, oral steroids are the most common choice and considered the best treatment option, but the use of intratympanic steroids has become an attractive alternative, especially in cases when systemic therapy fails, or to avoid the side effects of the systemic use of steroids.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the results of intratympanic methylprednisolone in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss after failure of oral prednisolone.


METHODS
In a prospective study fourteen patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss were treated with intratympanic methylprednisolone after failing in the treatment with systemic steroids. Pretreatment and post-treatment audiometric evaluations including pure tone average (PTA) and speech reception thresholds (SRT) were analyzed.


RESULTS
Ten from 14 patients treated with intra-tympanic methylprednisolone presented with hearing recovery > 20 dB in PTA or 20% in SRT.


CONCLUSIONS
Three intratympanic injections of methylprednisolone improved pure-tone average or speech discrimination scores for a subset of sudden hearing loss subjects that failed to benefit from oral steroids.
Raymundo
Igor Teixeira
IT
Medical Residency Program in Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Brasilia University Hospital, University of Brasilia, Brazil.
Bahmad
Fayez
F
Barros Filho
Jairo
J
Pinheiro
Thaís Gonçalves
TG
Maia
Nilda Agostinho
NA
Oliveira
Carlos Augusto
CA
D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014432:Tympanic Membrane
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011239:Prednisolone; D008775:Methylprednisolone