We studied 804 patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) regarding the correlation between the duration from the onset to the start of treatment and hearing outcome. An analysis of the 804 yielded the following results:
1) The overall cure rate was 30.0%.
2) The cure rate was better in patients with a shorter duration (within about 10 days) between the onset and the start of treatment.
3) In patients with mild hearing loss (Grade 1, 2), the cure rate was better in patients with a shorter duration.
4) In patients with severe hearing loss (Grade 3, 4), the cure rate of over 8-10 days was clearly worse, and it is very important to start treatment within 8-10 days.
