Journal
ORL-JOURNAL FOR OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGY AND ITS RELATED SPECIALTIES
Volume 69, Issue 5, Pages 306-310Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000107435
Keywords
bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss; unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss; autoimmune diseases; antinuclear antibody
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Aim: To compare bilateral (BSSHL) with unilateral (USSHL) sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Methods and Subjects: Two hundred and thirty-two patients with USSHL, 11 with simultaneous BSSHL and 7 with sequential BSSHL, who were older than 15 years had onset of hearing loss ! 30 days, no head injuries or history of acoustic trauma. All patients received the same treatment (prednisolone). Results: Hearing loss was more severe in simultaneous BSSHL in comparison to sequential BSSHL (p = 0.01) or USSHL (p = 0.03). Autoimmune diseases were far more common in simultaneous BSSHL (36% of patients) than USSHL. Positive antinuclear antibody was found in half of BSSHL patients and in only 8% of unilateral cases (p = 0.01). The frequency of hearing improvement was much lower in simultaneous BSSHL than in USSHL (p = 0.001). Complete or partial improvement was noted in 74% of unilateral cases versus 27% in simultaneous bilateral cases. Patients with sequential BSSHL improved in a similar way to unilateral cases. Conclusions: Simultaneous BSSHL, sequential BSSHL and USSHL may have a completely different profile and should not be managed as one disease. Hearing loss, underlying autoimmune diseases, antinuclear antibodies, and improvement/recovery of hearing loss vary in a degree that implies different pathophysiology and prognosis. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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