Intratympanic steroids for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss

We undertook to evaluate the effectiveness of intratympanic (IT) steroid injections for treating idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) by performing a retrospective case series study in a private otology practice.

A total of 21 eligible patients with ISSHL were included. We defined ISSHL as a hearing loss of 20 dB or more at at least 3 consecutive audiometric frequencies that develops within 72 hours or less and cannot be attributed to any commonly identifiable cause of sudden hearing loss. Three IT injections of 0.4 mL of 62.5 mg/mL methylprednisolone solution were administered 1 week apart. The end point for the study was a clinically significant change in audiometric values, with a positive response determined to be a 10-dB or greater improvement in the 4-tone pure tone average and/ or a 15% or greater improvement in the word discrimination score. Audiometric data were recorded just before therapy and 1 week after the last IT treatment. The potentially confounding variables recorded included age, sex, "prompt treatment" (defined as treatment within 14 days from onset), concurrent or prior treatment with oral steroids, and severity of hearing loss.

The overall response rate to the IT steroid protocol was 67% (14 of 21 patients), with a 95% confidence interval of 43% to 85%. Backward stepwise logistic regression identified "prompt treatment" as the only variable that significantly affected the outcome. The response rate of the "prompt treatment" cohort was 91% (10 of 11 patients), with a 95% confidence interval of 59% to 100%.

These findings support the use of IT steroids as an early intervention in the treatment of ISSHL.