Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity as Indicator on the Etiology of Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

To ascertain brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and ankle-brachial index (ABI) and their usefulness as an additional indicator of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) etiology and prognosis.

We retrospectively analyzed 89 adult patients with unilateral ISSNHL and 89 age-matched controls. Patients were classified into good- or poor-prognosis groups based on hearing recovery. All participants accepted the examinations of baPWV, ABI, and pure-tone audiometry testing. Other clinical variables were also collected. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the associations between arterial stiffness factors and pure-tone average; univariate logistic regression was used to evaluate predictors of prognosis.

ISSNHL patients showed significantly higher baPWV than controls (P < .001). Elevated baPWV was associated with increased air-conduction (β = .244, P = .040) and bone-conduction threshold (β = .286, P = .014), and was also associated with poor prognosis (P = .015).

BaPWV was related to the incidence of ISSNHL and may serve as a useful indicator of disease severity. Its potential relevance to hearing outcomes requires further validation in larger prospective studies.