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Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Recovery From Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Association With Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Katherine Lemons1, Emily Archambault1, Melinda Anderson2
1Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder.
Insights
Cardiovascular disease risk factors, particularly smoking, impact idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) recovery. Smokers have a poorer prognosis for low-frequency hearing recovery, while other risk factors show no significant association.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Cardiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is a complex condition.
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are increasingly recognized for their systemic impact.
- The relationship between CVD risk factors and ISSNHL outcomes requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) disease severity and recovery.
- To determine if specific CVD risk factors influence the likelihood of hearing recovery in ISSNHL patients.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 90 ISSNHL patients.
- Categorization into lower and higher CVD risk groups based on major risk factors (smoking, diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension).
- Logistic regression analysis to assess the odds of ISSNHL recovery, adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- Most patients (67.8%) had one or more CVD risk factors.
- Current/former smoking was associated with significantly lower odds of low-frequency hearing recovery (PTA0.5,1,2).
- Higher CVD risk status and other individual risk factors were not significantly associated with hearing recovery.
Conclusions:
- The prognosis for low-frequency ISSNHL recovery is poorer in current/former smokers.
- Aggregate CVD risk and most individual risk factors do not significantly impact ISSNHL recovery.
- Smoking cessation may be important for improving hearing outcomes in ISSNHL.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) disease severity and recovery.
Method:
A retrospective medical chart review was performed on 90 patients (n = 48 men; Mage = 59.8 years, SD = 15.8) evaluated for ISSNHL. Major CVD risk factors (current tobacco smoking, diabetes, total cholesterol ≥ 240 mg/dl or treatment, and hypertension [systolic blood pressure [BP]/diastolic BP ≥ 140/ ≥ 90 mmHg or treatment]) determined two CVD risk groups: lower (no major risk factors) and higher (one or more risk factors). Two pure-tone averages (PTAs) were computed: PTA0.5,1,2 and PTA3,4,6,8. Complete recovery of ISSNHL was defined as PTAinitial - PTAfollow-up ≥ 10 dB. Logistic regression estimated the odds of ISSNHL recovery by CVD risk status adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, noise exposure, and treatment.
Results:
Most patients (67.8%) had one or more CVD risk factors. Severity of initial low- and high-frequency hearing loss was similar between CVD risk groups. Recovery was 53.2% for PTA0.5,1,2 and 32.9% for PTA3,4,6,8. With multivariable adjustment, current/former smoking was associated with lower odds of PTA0.5,1,2 recovery (OR = 0.27; 95% CI [0.08, 0.92]). Neither higher CVD risk status nor individual CVD risk factors had a significant association with recovery. For every one-unit increase in Framingham Risk Score, odds of PTA3,4,6,8 recovery were 0.95 times lower (95% CI [0.90, 1.00]) after accounting for age, sex, body mass index, noise exposure, and treatment/time-to-treatment grouping (p = .056).
Conclusions:
The prognosis of low-frequency ISSNHL recovery is worse among current/former smokers than nonsmokers. Other CVD risk factors and aggregate risk are not significantly related to recovery.
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