2012 Volume 105 Issue 4 Pages 375-379
We examined the effect of oral administration of beraprost sodium, a derivative of prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) in patients with sudden deafness as a salvage treatment after failure of initial systemic steroid therapy with prostaglandin E1. We then compared them with those of mecobalamin, a derivative of vitamin B12. A significant improvement in the average hearing level was obtained in patients who received beraprost sodium for 12 weeks, but not in patients who received mecobalamin. The hearing levels at 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz and 8000 Hz significantly improved after the salvage treatment of beraprost sodium over those of mecobalamin. These findings suggested that oral administration of the PGI2 derivative could be utilized as a salvage treatment for refractory sudden deafness after failure of initial steroid therapy.
