title: Oral versus short-term intratympanic prednisolone therapy for idiopathic sudden hearing loss.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the therapeutic effectiveness of an intratympanic (IT) steroid protocol compared to a systemic steroid protocol.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 265 consecutive patients presenting unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss were divided into 2 groups. One group comprised 131 patients enrolled between May 2009 and May 2010, and the other consisted of 134 patients enrolled between June 2010 and June 2011; a total of 48 patients were excluded among the 2 groups. The first group received oral prednisone for 8 days in tapering doses; the second group had IT prednisolone at a dose of 62.5 mg/ml once a day for 3 consecutive days. Audiological examinations were performed at study entry and 30 days after the beginning of therapy. Mean pure tone audiometry (PTA) of both groups and hearing outcomes following the criteria of Furuhashi et al. [Clin Otolaryngol 2002;27:458-463] and Siegel [Otolaryngol Clin North Am 1975;8:467-473] were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The strong efficacy of steroid therapy was evident in both groups, observing both PTA and hearing threshold improvement. The evaluation of the hearing outcomes shows a significantly better result for the short-term IT protocol; this result is ascribable to two types of audiometric curves: down- and up-sloping.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show a significant efficacy of both steroid therapeutic approaches. There was no significant difference in PTA improvement between the 2 study groups; the short-term IT protocol led to better results in the evaluation of the hearing outcomes (following the criteria of Siegel and Furuhashi et al.) for up- and down-sloping audiometric curves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sensory Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Filipo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Attanasio
authors.forename: Francesca Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cartocci
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musacchio
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Carlo
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roukos
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Seta
authors.forename: Giacinto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Tillo
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viccaro
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarnacchiaro
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Covelli
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D004432:Ear, Middle; D005260:Female; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D011239:Prednisolone