1988 Volume 81 Issue 11 Pages 1595-1601
Five patients with syphilis of the labyrinth were treated with corticosteroids, and their hearing was tested before and after treatment.
1) Those with rapid hearing loss in the early stage showed improvement of 12.1±6.8dB in the pure tone audiogram after treatment.
2) Hearing improvement of those, who had no progressive hearing loss was 2.2±6.4dB.
3) The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p=0.05).
4) The effect of steroid therapy on hearing loss generally noted within the first 10 days.
Therefore, it seems rational to avoid the long term use of steroids, because of possible side-effects. Adequate anti-syphilitic therapy must also be used.
