突発性難聴陳旧例に対する高圧酸素療法

抄録

To evaluate the effect of the hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy for sudden deafness unsuccessfully treated with steroids, we investigated improvements in hearing threshold with this treatment. HBO therapy was used in 30 patients who were not cured by adrenocorticosteroid therapy between January 1992 and December 1996. HBO therapy in these patients was started between the 15th to 150th day after the onset of deafness. In this study, the overall efficacy rate of HBO therapy was 37 percent. There was no significant difference in the efficacy rate among three groups delineated according to the time after onset of the deafness. Hearing threshold before HBO therapy and age of the patients had no significant influence on the effect of HBO therapy. HBO therapy may be effective for unsuccessfully treated cases of sudden deafness.