Abstract
In a nationwide survey of the number of patients and clinical manifestations of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (sudden deafness) in 2001 in Japan, data were collected for 2, 815 patients. Of these, we selected 1, 285 whose initial and final audiograms were completely recorded with the day of onset to investigate factors influencing prognosis. In the 600 men and 685 women, the initial hearing level of the average of five frequencies from 250Hz to 4kHz was 57.4±24.9dB and the final hearing level of that was 33.3±23.6dB. Multivariate analysis showed that the degree of hearing loss on the initial audiogram, the lapse in days from onset to the first hospital visit, age, the presence of vertigo and a “downward” audiometric curve were negative factors in hearing recovery. The presence of tinnitus or aural fullness was not associated with prognosis. Some 91.8% of patients received vitamins, 87.2% ATP, 85.3% steroids, 32.6% prostaglandin, 11.1% hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and 7.9% stellate ganglion block.
