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Sudden hearing loss: Eight years' experience and suggested prognostic table
Author(s) -
Byl Frederick M.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-198405000-00014
Subject(s) - sudden hearing loss , audiology , hearing loss , table (database) , medicine , computer science , database
The etiology, incidence, acute and late prognosis, and treatment of sudden hearing loss (SHL) are described variously in the literature. In an 8‐year prospective study of 225 SHL patients, initiated in July 1973, overall, normal, or complete recovery occurred in 45% of patients and late otologic complications in 28%. Important prognostic indicators were severity of initial hearing loss and vertigo, time to initial audiogram, and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate; other indicators were age >60 and <15 years, midfrequency audiogram configuration, and hearing status of the opposite ear. A common inflammatory cause is suggested for all degrees of severity in SHL, and a prognostic table is provided to aid the practitioner in predicting recovery. There is still no evidence that treatment achieves a result better than expected with spontaneous recovery.