BACKGROUND: Long-term follow-up of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) is seldom studied in Taiwan. This research focused on individuals with ISSHL that presented at a regional hospital in southern Taiwan. The goal was to explore and analyze the relationship between the degree of hearing recovery and the time-course of the hearing loss.METHOD: Cases diagnosed with idiopathic unilateral sudden deafness were retrospectively reviewed between January 2004 and December 2011. There were 215 patients that received the same treatment according to current guidelines. The relationships of: gender, age, affected ear, individual previous history, combined symptoms, time interval between onset of hearing loss to the start of treatment, severity of pre-treatment hearing loss, type of initial audiogram and the degree of hearing recovery were studied. In addition, long-term hearing outcomes were assessed.RESULTS: The results of this study show that a young age, the presence of no other disease (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease), treatment within seven days of the onset of ISSHL, mild hearing loss, and audiograms with ascending curves had a statistically significant better outcome with regard to the degree of hearing recovery (p < 0.05). Of the 215 patients that recovered, over three months of follow-up, 65.1% had hearing recovered by the final follow up visit. Among these 140 patients, 54.3% had a delayed recovery after admission and the course of treatment. Among these 76 patients, 81.6% recovered within one month, 9.2% recovered within one to two months, 3.9% recovered in two to three months, and 5.3% recovered later than three months after discharge.CONCLUSIONS: A slower speed of improvement in hearing, with regard to the mean degree of hearing recovery, was associated with delayed hearing recovery. However, the hearing level remained relatively stable after two months from the time of onset of the hearing loss. In addition, the results of this study showed that if hearing recovered during the initial period, it rarely deteriorated after that time.
BACKGROUND: Long-term follow-up of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) is seldom studied in Taiwan. This research focused on individuals with ISSHL that presented at a regional hospital in southern Taiwan. The goal was to explore and analyze the relationship between the degree of hearing recovery and the time-course of the hearing loss.METHOD: Cases diagnosed with idiopathic unilateral sudden deafness were retrospectively reviewed between January 2004 and December 2011. There were 215 patients that received the same treatment according to current guidelines. The relationships of: gender, age, affected ear, individual previous history, combined symptoms, time interval between onset of hearing loss to the start of treatment, severity of pre-treatment hearing loss, type of initial audiogram and the degree of hearing recovery were studied. In addition, long-term hearing outcomes were assessed.RESULTS: The results of this study show that a young age, the presence of no other disease (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease), treatment within seven days of the onset of ISSHL, mild hearing loss, and audiograms with ascending curves had a statistically significant better outcome with regard to the degree of hearing recovery (p < 0.05). Of the 215 patients that recovered, over three months of follow-up, 65.1% had hearing recovered by the final follow up visit. Among these 140 patients, 54.3% had a delayed recovery after admission and the course of treatment. Among these 76 patients, 81.6% recovered within one month, 9.2% recovered within one to two months, 3.9% recovered in two to three months, and 5.3% recovered later than three months after discharge.CONCLUSIONS: A slower speed of improvement in hearing, with regard to the mean degree of hearing recovery, was associated with delayed hearing recovery. However, the hearing level remained relatively stable after two months from the time of onset of the hearing loss. In addition, the results of this study showed that if hearing recovered during the initial period, it rarely deteriorated after that time.