title: [Association between anti-endothelial cell antibody and response to dexamethasone in sudden hearing loss].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate relationship between anti-endothelial cell antibody(AECA) and response to dexamethasone in sudden hearing loss(SHL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight SHL patients and thirty normal controls with SHL were recruited in present study. AECA was detected by ELISA in serum of all normal controls and SHL patients as well as pure-tone average was examined by electronic audiometry during treatment in SHL patients. Both AECA-positive and -negative subjects received 10 mg/d venous dexamethasone for 5 days followed by gradual tapering of dose of 5 mg/d for another 5-day. Then pure-tone average was reexamined. Differences in hearing recovery between AECA-positive and -negative subjects and relationship between AECA level and hearing recovery were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of AECA detection was 68.75% (33 of 48 patients) in SHL patients, with significant difference compared with control subjects with 23.33% (7 of 30 controls) (P<0.01). After treatment, rates of response to dexamethasone in AECA-positive and -negative SHL patients were 81.8% (27 of 33 patients) and 33.3% (5 of 15 patients), respectively. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference in cure, excellent recovery, partly recovery and invalid between AECA-positive and -negative groups [21.2% (7/33), 33.3% (11/33), 27.3% (9/33) and 18.2% (6/33) versus 0, 13.3% (2/15), 20.0% (3/15) and 66.7% (10/15), P<0.01]. Except 5 subjects with AECA level more than 263 microg/L, hearing recovery was correlated to pretreatment AECA level (r=0.8084, P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In sudden HL patients treated with dexamethasone, AECA might represent a serological marker of prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Shanghai No. 7 People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200137, China. dryuyj@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yuejin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Zhicheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hongwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yunhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiuhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; C087589:anti-endothelial cell antibody; D003907:Dexamethasone