Hearing improvement after therapy for hyperlipidemia in patients with chronic-phase sudden deafness

Hearing in patients with chronic-phase sudden deafness and associated hyperlipidemia tends to improve with therapy for hyperlipidemia. We studied 12 patients with unilateral sudden deafness and hyperlipidemia in whom more than 1 month had elapsed since the onset of the hearing disturbance. The disturbance was considered to be irreversible without therapy. The 4 men and 8 women ranged in age from 32 to 73 years, with a mean age of 54.3 years. The hearing disturbance was evaluated by measuring the air conduction thresholds at 125 to 8,000 Hz with pure tone audiometry. Hyperlipidemia was diagnosed when the total blood cholesterol level was 230 mg/dL or greater. The therapy for hyperlipidemia consisted of diet therapy and the administration of antilipemic agents. The hearing level was measured both before therapy and when the total blood cholesterol level had decreased to less than 230 mg/dL. After therapy, the mean hearing level had improved significantly (Wilcoxon's test, p < .05) at each of 125, 250, 500, and 2,000 Hz, but the changes in the level were not significant at 1,000, 4,000, or 8,000 Hz. Our results suggest that with therapy for hyperlipidemia, hearing tends to improve in patients with chronic-phase sudden deafness and associated hyperlipidemia, even when more than 1 month has elapsed since the onset of the presumably otherwise-irreversible hearing disturbance.