Sudden deafness: efficacy of a therapeutic protocol

Sudden hearing loss is an entity of unknown cause. Different theories of its etiology and treatment have been proposed. The objective of our report is to evaluate the efficacy of the therapeutic protocol used in our department in patients with sudden hearing loss. We made a retrospective study of 24 patients who had experienced sudden hearing loss from January 1994 to March 1998. We studied the parameters of age, sex, days of hospitalization, vestibular symptoms, otoscopy, personal history, radiology study, and successive audiograms. The treatment protocol consists of low-dose steroids, pentoxyphylline, and carbogen, and a concentration of 5% CO2 and 95% O2. Treatment was effective, with a recovery rate of 83%. The factors of tinnitus or vertigo, the state of hearing in the opposite ear, and age did not influence the recovery of hearing. However, the form of the audiogram and initial hearing were important prognostic factors.