title: Comparison of sudden deafness in adults and children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although many studies have assessed sudden deafness in adults, sudden deafness has not been evaluated in children. We therefore evaluated the differences in sudden deafness between children and adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared clinical manifestations, including gender, audiogram pattern of initial hearing loss, and recovery rate after treatment in 87 children and 707 adults diagnosed with sudden deafness from September 2003 and August 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in sex, side, or audiogram between children and adults (P>0.05 each). Hearing recovery rates in children and adults were 72.4% and 70.6%, respectively (P>0.05). Both children and adults with mild hearing loss showed significantly greater hearing recovery rates than individuals with profound hearing loss (P<0.05 each). The percentage with initially mild and moderate hearing loss was higher in children than in adults, as were the recovery rates of children compared to adults with initially mild, moderate-severe, and profound hearing loss (P<0.05 each). In regard to final hearing outcome after treatment, a low percentage of children showed no improvement whereas a high percentage showed complete recovery; a higher percentage of children than of adults showed complete recovery (P<0.05). Recovery rate from profound hearing loss was significantly higher in children than in adults (60.0% vs. 45.4%, P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Degree of hearing loss, gender, side, and recovery rate were similar in children and adults, but the rate of complete recovery was higher in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Se Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Gu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hwaseong, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ho Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Geun
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Yeo
keywords: Adult; Children; Sudden deafness