Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in the Elderly: Characteristics and Outcome

Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is defined as hearing loss of at least 30 dB in 3 sequential frequencies occurring within 72 hours . Its estimated incidence ranges from 5 to 20 cases per 100,000 population , lowest in individuals aged 2030 years (4.7 per 100,000), and highest in those aged 50-60 years (15.8 per 100,000) . Both sexes are equally affected and about 95% of the cases are unilateral . The elderly population is characterized by a high prevalence of presbycusis, with a 40% rate in individuals older than 65 years . Hearing impairment reduces the ability to understand speech and later to detect and localize sounds, thus affecting patients psychosocially and contributing to social isolation, depression, senile dementia and loss of self-esteem [6, . The higher rate of systemic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia associated with microangiopathy, may negatively influence the course of SSNHL. Surprisingly, the data on idiopathic SSNHL in the elderly patients are very limited [8, .