Objective To determine the otological outcome in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) in their only hearing ear.
Design Retrospective medical chart review study.
Setting Tertiary care hospital.
Patients Forty-five consecutive patients older than 18 years with sudden sensorineural hearing loss during a 10 year period (1985-1995), 9 of whom had ISSHL in their only hearing ear.
Intervention Daily audiometric tests, oral prednisolone (full available dose), and bed rest for at least a week.
Main Outcome Measure The audiometric result 7 to 10 days following the start of treatment was used as the treatment outcome.
Results Demographic characteristics were not significantly different between patients with ISSHL whose contralateral ear is deaf and those whose contralateral ear hears well. A tendency to seek help sooner (2.8 ± 1.4 vs 7.1 ± 5.2 days [mean ± SD], respectively) was noted. The mean ± SD improvement of hearing in the 3 more affected frequencies was 13 ± 13.4 dB for the investigated group compared with 9 ± 8.7dB for the rest of the patients (not statistically significant). Of the 9 patients who previously had sensorineural hearing loss in the opposite ear, 5 showed end results of speech reception thresholds of 35 dB or better, as did 13 of the 36 patients in the other group.
Conclusions Patients with ISSHL in their only hearing ear may be treated the same way as other patients because their outcome appears to be the same. About 50% of the patients will have a 10 dB or more hearing improvement, and about 60% of patients in the investigated group will regain useful hearing.
