Sudden hearing loss and tinnitus

Abstract

Hearing loss can occur suddenly when the ear canal becomes occluded or the middle ear becomes damaged from trauma. However, the term sudden hearing loss is mainly used for suddenly occurring sensory neural hearing loss. Sudden sensory neural hearing loss (SSNHL) was first described by De Klein in 1944 [1]. SSNHL is a dramatic condition for the patient that twenty-first century medicine still has no explanation of; there is no known cure. The mechanisms, the etiology, and the treatment remain hypothetical. The SSNHL definition is also controversial among authors. The most detailed criteria have been proposed by Stokroos [2], who described SSNHL as an acute deafness with abrupt onset, generally within 3 days, of more than 30-dB hearing loss at three consecutive frequencies. Different authors have used different definitions of SSNHL [3]. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.