2008 Volume 101 Issue 10 Pages 749-757
This retrospective study included 256 cases with sudden hearing loss treated by hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) in our hospital from 2000 to 2006 (57 primary cases with intravenous steroid administrations, and 199 secondary cases after insufficient effects of initial steroid therapy). Hearing thresholds were ascertained at frequencies of 250, 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000Hz using pure-tone audiometry. To establish the indication of secondary HBO therapy for the treatment of sudden hearing loss, several prognostic factors including initial average hearing thresholds, age, intervals between the onset and beginning of HBO treatment, and the presence or absence of vertigo at onset were evaluated between primary and secondary cases. Although the HBO effects in the secondary were poorer than those in primary cases, one third of the secondary cases indicated hearing threshold gains of over 10dB. Regardless of an age over 60 years, the presence of vertigo, and/or poor initial average hearing levels, HBO is considered to be an effective choice for secondary therapy of sudden hearing loss in patients within 8 weeks after onset.
