Results of steroid administration for idiopathic sudden deafness

Abstract

We treated 265 patients (270 ears) with idiopathic sudden deafness by intravenous corticosteroid hormone administration. Complete recovery occurred in 31% of patients, definite improvement in 17%, slight improvement in 19%, and no improvement in 33%. Prognostic factors for better hearing were as follows: younger age, absence of vestibular symptoms, hearing loss configuration without high tone impairment, mild initial hearing loss, and early initial treatment after onset. In the past 10 years, only three reports analyzing more than 200 patients were found in the Japanese literature. All papers reported complete recovery in approximately 30%.