Abstract
Objective: 1) Assess the prognostic factors possibly affecting hearing recovery, such as age, severity of hearing loss, definitive episode of vertigo, tinnitus, and ear fullness. 2) Assess the effect of corticosteroids in sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL).
Method: We reviewed the medical records of 117 patients seen at the outpatient clinic of Kawasaki Medical School Hospital between 2004 and 2008. Hearing loss was graded from 1 to 4 according to the grading system by the Research Committee on acute profound deafness of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Results: Eighty-five patients were Grade-1 (under 40 dB hearing thresholds at the average of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 KHz), 22 were Grade-2 (40 to 60 dB), 9 were Grade-3 (60 to 90 dB), and one was Grade-4 (90 dB and over). The recovery rates after the treatment of hydrocortisone (300 mg/d for 3 days, 100 mg/d for 3 days) were 88.2% in Grade-1, 50% in Grade-2, and 30% in Grade-3 and -4. The recovery rate was significantly higher in Grade-1 and in cases in which that treatment was started within 7 days from the onset.
Conclusion: Our study indicates that the prognostic factors affecting hearing recovery are the severity of hearing loss and the duration of disease between the onset and the initial treatment of corticosteroid. The age, presence of vertigo, tinnitus, and ear fullness did not influence the recovery rate.
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