Intratympanic steroid injection for treatment of idiopathic sudden hearing loss.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To conduct a clinical trial of intratympanic steroid injection for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss in subjects who failed oral steroid therapy.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:

Open-label methylprednisolone injection clinical trial in a tertiary neurotologic referral center. Twenty subjects (14 males; 6 females) received 4 injections within a 2-week period (4 days apart). Hearing, dizziness, and tinnitus were evaluated before and after treatment.

RESULTS:

There were no serious unexpected adverse events and 2 types of expected adverse events (tympanic membrane perforation, nausea after injection). No increases in dizziness or tinnitus lasting longer than 24 hours were observed after injections. One of 20 (5%) improved to near-normal hearing. In addition, there was statistically significant improvement in 4-frequency pure-tone average and speech discrimination score at 1 month after treatment.

CONCLUSION:

Four intratympanic injections of methylprednisolone improved pure-tone average or speech discrimination scores for a subset of sudden hearing loss subjects that failed to benefit from oral steroids.

SIGNIFICANCE:

A clinical trial of intratympanic injections for idiopathic sudden hearing loss was successfully completed and promising results were found.

• Authors: William H Slattery, Laurel M Fisher, Zarina Iqbal, Rick A Friedman, Nancy Liu
• Journal: Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg) Vol. 133 Issue 2 Pg. 251-9 (Aug 2005) ISSN: 0194-5998 [Print] England
• PMID: 16087024 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Methylprednisolone

Topics

• Adult
• Age Factors
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Audiometry, Pure-Tone
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Hearing Loss, Sudden (diagnosis, drug therapy)
• Humans
• Injections, Intralesional
• Male
• Methylprednisolone (administration & dosage)
• Middle Aged
• Probability
• Prospective Studies
• Recovery of Function
• Risk Assessment
• Severity of Illness Index
• Sex Factors
• Treatment Outcome
• Tympanic Membrane (drug effects)