[Treatment of sudden deafness with xantinolnicotinate (Complamin) in increasing dosage]

Twenty-nine patients affected by typical unilateral sudden hearing loss were treated with Xantinolnicotinate (Complamin) by a 21 days infusion of 1.5 g-30 g in 500 ml NaCl 0.9% followed by 3 months 1,000 mg sustained release tablets t.i.d. An improvement in hearing was achieved in 90.5% of the cases and in 52% returned to normal. Tinnitus improved in 92% of cases and resolved completely in 54%. The results of speech and sound audiograms correlated well, and showed significant recovery in the first 3 weeks. The infusion therapy was terminated prematurely in 4 patients because of near normalization of hearing (maximum dosage: 15 g Complamin). Adverse reactions only occurred during the infusion therapy. For ethical and therapeutic reasons a placebo control group was not included. To compensate for this the audiograms of impaired and 'normal' ears were compared. The changes in hearing and tinnitus are therefore to be regarded as the result of spontaneous remission and drug efficacy.