Prognostic Factors for Recovery from Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate prognostic factors in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). SUBJECTS AND METHODS From January 2007 to December 2011, a retrospective chart review identified 494 consecutive patients with ISSNHL. Demographic, audiometric, and clinical data were analyzed using a logistic regression test. RESULTS Hearing recovery from ISSNHL was significantly associated with factors such as age, duration from onset of symptoms to commencement of treatment, severity of the initial pure tone threshold, and the treatment method. Intratympanic (IT) steroid administration alone showed a comparable efficiency to oral steroid administration with or without IT steroid injection. In patients who received IT steroid injection, the duration from onset to treatment, severity of initial hearing loss, and sequential IT steroid injection following systemic steroid administration were statistically associated with hearing improvement. CONCLUSIONS Age, severity of initial pure tone threshold, duration from onset to treatment, initial speech discrimination, and initial pure tone threshold are statistically significant prognostic factors related to hearing improvement in ISSNHL. IT steroid injection as an initial single treatment is comparable to systemic oral steroid administration.