Effectiveness of Medical Management of the Patients with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objective Management of sudden sensorineural hearing loss still remains unclear in otology. To evaluate our experience medical management of sudden hearing loss with review of the literature. Materials and Methods In this study, we performed retrospective chart review including 60 patients presenting sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) between 2008-2018 years. We included only patients given medical management, and hyperbaric oxygen was not performed in any patients. Pure tone audiometric measurements investigated before (PTA I) and after treatment at two weeks (PTA II) and three months (PTA III). We also performed cranial MRI on all patients to disclose intracranial pathology if it was present. Results The mean age of our cases of was 49.7 years. No certain etiology was detected in all patients in the study. The improvement of hearing loss in our cases was classified according to Siegel's criteria as follows: Type I (3.3%) in 2 patients, Type II (16.7%) in 10 patients, Type III (33.3%) in 20 patients, Type IV (28) in 28 patients (46.7%). Three mean audiometric measurements were compared statistically with each other (PTA I and PTA II: p <0.05; PTA I and III: p <0.05, PTA II and III: p <0.05). Conclusion In current study, we found that 60 patients diagnosed as SSNHL and given only medical treatment had positive satisfactory hearing improvement who was observed mainly in that patients with moderate to severe hearing loss and younger ones; however, these results require prospective studies involving a large number of patients.